San Jose and Rochester are hotter than other parts of the country; roughly three-quarters of homes that sold in those metros last month fetched more than their asking price—a higher share than anywhere else in the U.S.

Seattle, WA – May 17, 2024 (BUSINESS WIRE) (NASDAQ: RDFN) The median U.S. home sale price rose 6.2% year over year in April to $433,558—the highest level on record, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Today’s housing market is much slower than it was during the pandemic homebuying boom, but prices continue climbing because there still aren’t enough homes to go around.

New listings increased 1.7% month over month in April on a seasonally adjusted basis and rose 10.8% year over year. Still, they were roughly 20% below pre-pandemic levels, in large part because many homeowners don’t want to sell, as they feel “locked in” by the low mortgage rate they scored during the pandemic.

It’s worth noting that last April, new listings were at the lowest level on record aside from the start of the pandemic, which is one reason they’re now posting such a large year-over-year gain.

Home sales were little changed from a month earlier (0.2%) in April on a seasonally adjusted basis but were down 1.4% from a year earlier.

Homebuyers are getting hit by the one-two punch of high prices and elevated mortgage rates. The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.99% in April. That’s up from 6.82% in March and 6.34% in April 2023, and is more than double the all-time low of 2.65% during the pandemic.

“It’s not all bad news for homebuyers. Mortgage rates are already inching lower in response to this week’s inflation report, which signaled that the Fed may cut interest rates this summer—a possibility that just weeks ago many thought was off the table,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao. “In certain parts of the country, buyers also have room to negotiate as homes linger on the market, prompting sellers to slash their asking prices and provide concessions.”

Housing Supply—While Historically Low—Hit a Four-Year High in April as Homes Lingered on the Market

Active listings rose to the highest level since December 2020 in April. They were up 0.3% from a month earlier and up 7.5% from a year earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, though remained far below pre-pandemic levels.

While new listings represent the number of homes that were listed for sale during a given month, active listings represent the total number of homes that were for sale during a given month. That means that the latter metric includes homes that have been sitting on the market for a while.

Nationwide, 43.9% of homes that went under contract in April did so within two weeks of being listed, down from 46.9% a year earlier.

18% of Home Sellers Are Cutting Their Asking Prices

Nearly one in five (17.6%) homes for sale in April had a price cut, meaning the seller lowered the asking price after putting their home on the market. That’s up 5.6 percentage points from 12.1% a year earlier—the biggest gain in over a year.

“Most sellers in Las Vegas are willing to negotiate—anywhere from 5% to 10% off their list price,” said local Redfin Premier real estate agent Fernanda Kriese. “Sellers are offering buyers money for mortgage-rate buydowns, along with other concessions. Homes that are listed below market value get multiple offers and are snatched up in two to four days, but homes that are priced $5,000 to $10,000 over market value are sitting for 30 to 60 days longer.”

Las Vegas, like many pandemic boomtowns, has seen its housing market cool following the homebuying frenzy of 2021 and 2022.

But other markets haven’t cooled as quickly, and some are seeing substantial competition between homebuyers. In San Jose, CA, for example, three in four homes (75.8%) that sold in April went for more than their asking price. That’s up from 61.6% a year earlier and is the highest share among the metros Redfin analyzed. Next came Rochester, NY, at 72.8%, and Oakland, CA, at 69.7%. Nationwide, one-third (33.5%) of homes that sold in April went for more than their asking price.

Redfin recently surveyed its agents and found that the majority of respondents (74.4%) think the 2024 housing market is shaping up to be more favorable for sellers than buyers. That’s likely in part because sellers are fetching record-high prices for their homes. The survey, conducted by Qualtrics in April-May 2024, was fielded to roughly 300 Redfin Premier agents.

April 2024 Highlights: United States

	April 2024	Month-Over-Month Change	Year-Over-Year Change
Median sale price	$433,558	3.2%	6.2%
Homes sold, seasonally adjusted	425,102	0.2%	-1.4%
New listings, seasonally adjusted	522,713	1.7%	10.8%
All homes for sale, seasonally adjusted (active listings)	1,617,980	0.3%	7.5%
Months of supply	2.3	-0.2	0.1
Median days on market	35	-5	-2
Share of for-sale homes with a price drop	17.6%	1.9 ppts	5.6 ppts
Share of homes sold above final list price	33.5%	3.5 ppts	0.1 ppts
Average sale-to-final-list-price ratio	99.7%	0.4 ppts	0.2 ppts
Share of homes that went under contract within two weeks	43.9%	-1.4 ppts	-3 ppts
Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	6.99%	0.17 ppts	0.65 ppts

Note: Data is subject to revision

Metro-Level Highlights: April 2024

Data in the bullets below came from a list of 85 U.S. metro areas with populations of at least 750,000. A full metro-level data table can be found in the “download” tab of the dashboard in the monthly section of the Redfin Data Center. Refer to Redfin’s metrics definition page for explanations of metrics used in this report. Metro-level data is not seasonally adjusted. All changes below represent year-over-year changes.

• Prices: Median sale prices rose most from a year earlier in Buffalo, NY (24.3%), Anaheim, CA (22.8%) and Rochester (15%). They fell in just five metros: San Antonio (-1.6%), Memphis, TN (-0.7%), Birmingham, AL (-0.7%), North Port, FL (-0.2%) and Austin, TX (-0.1%).
• New listings: New listings rose most in San Jose (46.9%), Tacoma, WA (38.3%) and Oakland (38%). They fell in one metro Redfin analyzed: Greensboro, NC (-1.6%).
• Active listings: Active listings rose most in Cape Coral, FL (50.6%), North Port (49.1%) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (42.2%). They fell most in Raleigh, NC (-12.3%), New Brunswick, NJ (-8.7%) and Lake County, IL (-7.4%).
• Closed home sales: Home sales rose most in San Jose (38.2%), San Francisco (30.4%) and Stockton, CA (23.2%). They fell most in Fresno, CA (-3.5%), Jacksonville, FL (-3%) and Albany, NY (-2.6%).
• Sold above list price: In San Jose, 75.8% of homes sold above their final list price, the highest share among the metros Redfin analyzed. Next came Rochester (72.8%) and Oakland (69.7%). The shares were lowest in North Port (6.8%) West Palm Beach, FL (7.1%) and Cape Coral (9.3%).
• Off market in two weeks: In Rochester, 84.6% of homes that went under contract did so within two weeks—the highest share among the metros Redfin analyzed. Next came Seattle (75.9%) and Buffalo (74.5%). The lowest shares were in Honolulu (7.4%), Tucson, AZ (16.6%) and Chicago (16.9%).

To view the full report, including charts, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-tracker-april-2024/

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We run the country’s #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can have our renovations crew fix it up to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we’ve saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans^®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide^®, Title Forward^® and WalkScore^®.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin’s press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin’s press center, click here.

Contacts

Redfin Journalist Services:
Isabelle Novak, 414-861-5861
press@redfin.com

Americans report skipping meals, working overtime, and delaying medical care to afford housing

Seattle, WA – April 05, 2024 (BUSINESS WIRE) (NASDAQ: RDFN) Half of U.S. homeowners and renters (49.9%) sometimes, regularly or greatly struggle to afford their housing payments, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Many report making sacrifices to cover their housing costs.

The most common sacrifice was taking no or fewer vacations. More than one-third of homeowners and renters (34.5%) who struggle to afford housing indicated that they skipped vacations in the past year in order to afford their monthly costs.

But many people who struggle to afford housing made more serious sacrifices: 22% skipped meals and 20.7% worked extra hours at their job. A similar share (20.6%) sold belongings.

These responses are based on a Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Qualtrics in February 2024. The nationally representative survey was fielded to roughly 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters. Most of Redfin’s report focuses on the 1,494 respondents who indicated that they sometimes, regularly or greatly struggle to afford regular rent or mortgage payments.

More than one of every six people (17.9%) who struggle to afford housing borrowed money from friends/family, and 17.6% dipped into their retirement savings. Over one in seven (15.6%) delayed or skipped medical treatments.

“Housing has become so financially burdensome in America that some families can no longer afford other essentials, including food and medical care, and have been forced to make major sacrifices, work overtime and ask others for money so they can cover their monthly costs,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao. “Fortunately, the country’s leaders are starting to pay attention, and homebuyers may get a reprieve in June if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, which would bring down the cost of getting a mortgage.”

Mortgage payments are near their all-time high due to rising prices and elevated mortgage rates: The median U.S. home sale price is up about 5% from a year ago, and mortgage rates are hovering around 7%, not far from the 23-year high of roughly 8% hit in October. The typical household earns roughly $30,000 less than it needs to afford the median-priced home, and rents are on the rise again.

14% of Millennials Dipped Into Retirement Savings to Afford Housing Payments

Nearly one of every seven millennials (13.5%) who struggle to afford their housing payments have dipped into retirement savings to cover their monthly costs.

Most millennials are not retired, but housing affordability has become so strained that some are resorting to outside-the-box strategies to cover expenses. Millennials are the largest adult generation, and many are aging into their homebuying years at a time when home prices and mortgage rates are high.

The income needed to afford a starter home is up 8% from a year ago, prompting some young buyers to use family money to cover their down payment.

Baby boomers who struggle to afford housing were most likely to dip into retirement funds, with over one-quarter (27.5%) saying they did so to cover housing expenses. That makes sense, as many baby boomers are already retired, and it’s common for retirees to put their retirement savings toward housing.

Roughly 1 in 6 (15.5%) Gen Xers who struggle to afford housing dipped into retirement savings to afford monthly housing costs. The share was lowest among Gen Z respondents (6.5%), many of whom don’t yet have retirement savings.

The IRS typically taxes people who make withdrawals from their retirement accounts before the age of 59.5, but makes an exception for qualified first-time homebuyers, who are allowed to borrow up to $10,000 tax free.

Broken down by race/ethnicity, white respondents who struggle to afford housing were most likely (20.7%) to use retirement savings to cover housing costs, followed by Asian/Pacific Islander respondents (14%), Hispanic/LatinX respondents (13.6%) and Black respondents (12.6%).

Black Respondents Most Likely Work Extra Hours to Afford Housing; Gen Zers Most Likely to Sell Belongings

While pressing pause on vacations was the most common sacrifice for respondents as a whole, it wasn’t the top answer choice for every demographic. People of color and younger generations often made more serious sacrifices.

For example, Black respondents who struggle to afford housing were most likely to say they worked extra hours (25.9%) to cover their monthly costs, while Hispanic respondents were most likely to say that they sold belongings (28.2%). Skipping vacations was the most common answer among Asian/Pacific Islander respondents (43.8%) and white respondents (39.6%).

Black millennials are half as likely to own homes as white millennials, according to a separate Redfin analysis, though the racial homeownership gap exists across every generation due to decades of racist policies and discrimination.

When it came to age groups, skipping vacations was the top choice for baby boomers (42.8%), Gen Xers (36.8%) and millennials (31.3%) who struggle to afford housing. But for Gen Zers, the most common sacrifices were working extra hours, selling belongings and skipping meals, all of which clocked in at roughly 27%.

White Respondents, Baby Boomers and Homeowners Most Likely to Afford Housing Easily

Of the roughly 2,995 people who took the survey, half (50.1%) said they can easily afford their regular rent or mortgage payments, and half (49.9%) said they sometimes, regularly or greatly struggle to do so.

But the results vary by demographic. For example, 54.5% of white respondents said they can easily afford their housing payments, compared with 37.8% of Hispanic/LatinX respondents, 46.6% of Black respondents and 47.4% of Asian/Pacific Islander respondents.

Baby boomers were most likely to say they easily afford housing payments (61.9%), followed by Gen Xers (48.7%), millennials (40.2%) and Gen Zers (26.9%).

And homeowners (59.9%) were roughly twice as likely as renters (30.8%) to indicate that they easily afford their housing payments.

To view the full report, including charts and a detailed methodology, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/homebuying-sacrifices-survey-2024

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We run the country’s #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can have our renovations crew fix it up to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we’ve saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin’s press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin’s press center, click here.

Contacts

Redfin Journalist Services:
Angela Cherry, 913-638-8249
press@redfin.com

Housing costs remain stubbornly high, deterring some buyers–but Redfin economists say costs could come down soon

Seattle, WA – April 04, 2024 (BUSINESS WIRE) (NASDAQ: RDFN) New listings of U.S. homes for sale rose 8.4% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending March 31, the smallest increase in about seven weeks, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

What sellers are doing: Year-over-year growth in new listings slowed because some sellers took a break over Easter, which fell over a week earlier in 2024 than in 2023. The slowdown is likely an Easter blip, but Redfin will be keeping a close eye on selling data over the next few weeks to confirm it’s not the start of a larger trend.

What buyers are doing: Homebuying demand was relatively soft this week, too. Home tours were up 15% from the start of the year, compared to a 21% increase at this time last year, and mortgage-purchase applications were flat this week. Pending home sales fell 2.8% from a year ago, and they posted an unseasonal decline during the last week of March. Some would-be buyers took a break from touring offers and making offers over Easter, and others are shying away due to high housing costs.

And what about prices? The median U.S. home-sale price was $376,223, up 4.7% from a year earlier. Median monthly housing payments were just $13 shy of the all-time high hit last October, when home prices were lower but mortgage rates were nearing 8%, versus just under 7% this week.

“Buyers may get a break on housing costs in the coming months,” said Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao. “Daily average mortgage rates rose this week because of some disappointing economic news. But if the upcoming job and inflation reports show that the economy is heading in the right direction, the Fed is likely to confirm they will cut interest rates in June, which would lower mortgage rates. Home-price growth could soften as spring goes on if new listings regain the momentum we saw before Easter.”

For more of Redfin economists’ takes on the housing market, including how current financial events are impacting mortgage rates, please visit our “From Our Economists” page.

Leading indicators

Indicators of homebuying demand and activity
	Value (if applicable)	Recent change	Year-over-year change	Source
Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	7.07% (April 3)	Up from 6.91% a week earlier	Up from 6.44%	Mortgage News Daily
Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	6.79% (week ending March 28)	Down from 6.87% a week earlier	Up from 6.32%	Freddie Mac
Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted)		Essentially unchanged from a week earlier (as of week ending April 3)	Down 13%	Mortgage Bankers Association
Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted)		Essentially unchanged from a month earlier (as of week ending March 31)	Down 11%	Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of requests for tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents
Touring activity		Up 15% from the start of the year (as of April 2)	At this time last year, it was up 21% from the start of 2023 (last year’s increase was bigger partly because Easter fell on March 31 this year, and a week later in 2024)	ShowingTime, a home touring technology company
Google searches for “home for sale”		Down 4% from a month earlier (as of April 1)	Down 13%	Google Trends

Key housing-market data

U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending March 31, 2024Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and is based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision.
	Four weeks ending March 31, 2024	Year-over-year change	Notes
Median sale price	$376,223	4.7%
Median asking price	$404,925	4.9%
Median monthly mortgage payment	$2,700 at a 6.79% mortgage rate	9.3%	$13 shy of record high hit in October 2023
Pending sales	85,217	-2.8%
New listings	88,631	8.4%
Active listings	812,460	6.9%
Months of supply	3.3 months	+0.4 pts.	4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions
Share of homes off market in two weeks	43%	Essentially unchanged
Median days on market	39	-1 day
Share of homes sold above list price	27.6%	Up from 27%
Share of homes with a price drop	5.6%	+1.2 pts.
Average sale-to-list price ratio	99%	+0.3 pts.

Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending March 31, 2024Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.
	Metros with biggest year-over-year increases	Metros with biggest year-over-year decreases	Notes
Median sale price	West Palm Beach, FL (19.1%)Anaheim, CA (18%)San Jose, CA (15.9%)Providence, RI (14.3%)Miami (14%)	San Antonio, TX (-0.3%)	Declined in just 1 metro
Pending sales	San Jose, CA (30.5%)San Francisco (24.9%)Anaheim, CA (8.8%)Seattle (6.8%)Milwaukee (5.2%)	Atlanta (-15.9%)West Palm Beach, FL (-14.8%)Houston (-13.3%)San Antonio, TX (-12.5%)Fort Lauderdale, FL (-10.5%)	Increased in 16 metros
New listings	San Jose, CA (41.3%)Phoenix (30.2%)Sacramento, CA (25.4%)Jacksonville, FL (23.6%)Austin, TX (21.1%)	Atlanta (-9.6%)Newark, NJ (-8.9%)Boston (-8.3%)Chicago (-8%)Milwaukee, WI (-6%)	Declined in 13 metros

To view the full report, including charts, please visit:
https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-listings-sales-stumble-easter-effect

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We run the country’s #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can have our renovations crew fix it up to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we’ve saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin’s press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin’s press center, click here.

Contacts

Redfin Journalist Services:
Kenneth Applewhaite, 206-414-8880
press@redfin.com