Listings and Sales Stumble as Sellers and Buyers Take Easter Break

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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 changeYear-over-year
change		Source
Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate7.07% (April 3)Up from 6.91% a week earlierUp from 6.44%Mortgage News Daily
Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate6.79% (week ending March 28)Down from 6.87% a week earlierUp 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$376,2234.7% 
Median asking price$404,9254.9% 
Median monthly mortgage payment$2,700 at a 6.79% mortgage rate9.3%$13 shy of record high hit in October 2023
Pending sales85,217-2.8% 
New listings88,6318.4% 
Active listings812,4606.9% 
Months of supply3.3 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 weeks43%Essentially unchanged 
Median days on market39-1 day 
Share of homes sold above list price27.6%Up from 27% 
Share of homes with a price drop5.6%+1.2 pts. 
Average sale-to-list price ratio99%+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 priceWest 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 salesSan 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 listingsSan 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

‘Unstoppable’ RE/MAX Agents Outperform Competitors 2:1 for 16th Consecutive Year

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According to the 2024 RealTrends Verified Rankings of Large Brokerages, RE/MAX Agents Averaged Twice as Many Transaction Sides as Competing Agents in 2023

Denver, CO – April 4, 2024 (PRNewswire) The newly released 2024 RealTrends Verified Best Brokerages rankings, formerly known as the RealTrends 500, once again revealed RE/MAX® agents are the most productive in the U.S., outperforming competitors at participating large brokerages 2-to-1. The widely respected report showed RE/MAX agents averaged 11.8 transaction sides, more than double the 5.2 average of all other agents in the survey.* This marks the 16th consecutive year RE/MAX agents have held the 2-to-1 advantage.

“Production results like this are fueled by the ways RE/MAX agents elevate the client experience,” said RE/MAX, LLC President Amy Lessinger. “Embracing excellence, integrity, and a commitment to homebuyers and sellers – that’s what RE/MAX agents strive for every day.”

RealTrends Verified ranks participating large brokerages by residential transaction sides and sales volume. Of the 1,367 qualifying brokerages in 2023, 309, or 23%, were RE/MAX brokerages.

RE/MAX agents also averaged more than twice the sales volume of competing agents among the top 500 brokerages ranked by sales volume. They averaged $5M in sales volume – double the $2.5M average of all other agents in the survey.**

In addition, RealTrends Verified also released its Billionaire’s Club list of the top U.S. real estate brokerage firms that closed at least $1 billion in sales volume in 2023. Twenty-four RE/MAX offices reached that milestone with more than $713B in total volume. The top five RE/MAX franchises on the list includes:

  • #15 – RE/MAX Gold, representing Gold Nation, in Sacramento, CA
  • #27 – RE/MAX Results in Eden Prairie, MN
  • #65 – RE/MAX Professionals in Highlands Ranch, CO
  • #68 – RE/MAX Alliance in Arvada, CO
  • #118 – RE/MAX Estate Properties in Palos Verdes Estates, CA

With well-adopted resources like the ‘Unstoppable’ national advertising campaign and MAX/TechSM powered by kvCORE technology, the global RE/MAX brand continues to maintain its position as a leader in the industry. RE/MAX brokerages foster a culture in which experienced agents are well-equipped to handle the changing landscape and deliver the best guidance to their clients.

Added Lessinger, “Productive real estate agents don’t just adopt resources; they innovate and also leverage change as an opportunity to showcase their expertise and resilience.”

* Transaction sides per agent calculated by RE/MAX based on 2024 RealTrends Verified Best Brokerages data, citing 2023 transaction sides for the 1,327 participating U.S. brokerages that closed 500 transaction sides, excluding 64 who did not report or publish active licensees.

** Sales volume per agent calculated by RE/MAX based on 2024 RealTrends Verified Best Brokerages data, citing 2023 data for the 500 participating brokerages with the most sales volume.

About the RE/MAX Network

As one of the leading global real estate franchisors, RE/MAX, LLC is a subsidiary of RE/MAX Holdings (NYSE: RMAX) with more than 140,000 agents in over 9,000 offices and a presence in more than 110 countries and territories. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX, as measured by residential transaction sides. RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. RE/MAX agents have lived, worked and served in their local communities for decades, raising millions of dollars every year for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® and other charities. To learn more about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit news.remax.com.

SOURCE RE/MAX, LLC

Property Taxes On Single-Family Homes Up 7 Percent Across U.S. In 2023, To $363 Billion

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Total Single-Family Taxes Levied Nationwide in 2023 Rise Twice as Fast as in 2022; Average Property Tax Up 4 percent, to $4,062, While Effective Rate Also Increases; Highest Effective Tax Rates Remain Clustered in Northeast and Midwest

Irvine, CA – April 4, 2024 (PRNewswire) ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its 2023 property tax analysis for 89.4 million U.S. single family homes, which shows that $363.3 billion in property taxes were levied on single-family homes in 2023, up 6.9 percent from $339.8 billion in 2022. The increase was almost double the 3.6 percent growth rate in 2022 – and the largest in the past five years.

The report also shows that the average tax on single-family homes in the U.S. increased 4.1 percent in 2023, to $4,062, after going up 3 percent the previous year.

The latest average tax resulted in an effective tax rate nationwide of 0.87 percent. That was up slightly from 0.83 percent in 2022, marking the first increase since 2017.

View 2023 Property Taxes by County Heat Map 

The report analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro and county levels along with estimated market values of single-family homes calculated using an automated valuation model (AVM). The effective tax rate shows the average annual property tax expressed as a percentage of the average estimated market value of homes in each geographic area.

Effective rates increased last year throughout much of the U.S. amid a combination of declining home values and rising tax bills. Nationwide, the average home value dipped 1.7 percent as the nation’s decade-long housing market boom cooled off in 2023, especially in the second half of the year when median home-sale prices declined. The decrease in values, along with rising taxes, resulted in a small increase in effective rates.

Rate trends this year will depend heavily on whether recent drop-offs in home mortgage rates and a historically tight supply of homes for sale around the nation prompt a market rebound. A renewed spike in values that outpaces tax increases would lower effective rates, while the opposite would likely happen if prices stagnate.

“Property taxes took an unusually high turn upward last year, pushing effective rates up, while huge gaps in average tax bills between different parts of country remained in place,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “The tax increases were likely connected, at least in part, to inflationary pressures on the cost of operating local governments and schools, along with rising public employee wages and other major expenses.”

He added that “ongoing disparities in how much homeowners pay in different parts of the country are usually related to a couple of important things: varying levels of government services and reduced economies of scale in metro areas with many small municipalities that each maintain separate local governments and school systems.”

Highest effective property tax rates in Northeast and Midwest, led by Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Nebraska
The top 10 states with the highest effective property tax rates in 2023 were all in the Northeast and Midwest. They were led by Illinois (1.88 percent), New Jersey (1.64 percent), Connecticut (1.54 percent), New York (1.46 percent) and Nebraska (1.46 percent).

Other states in the top 10 for highest effective property tax rates were Ohio (1.37 percent), Pennsylvania (1.33 percent), Vermont (1.29 percent), Kansas (1.26 percent) and New Hampshire (1.25 percent).

Lowest effective rates in South and West, led by Hawaii, Arizona, Alabama, Delaware and Tennessee
The 10 states with the lowest effective property tax rates in 2023 were all in the South and West, Topping that list were Hawaii (0.31 percent), Arizona (0.41 percent), Alabama (0.42 percent), Delaware (0.43 percent) and Tennessee (0.44 percent).

Other states with low effective property tax rates last year were Idaho (0.44 percent), Utah (0.45 percent), Nevada (0.48 percent), Colorado (0.48 percent) and West Virginia (0.49 percent).

Northeastern states still have average taxes up to 10 times higher than elsewhere
States in the Northeast region had seven of the 10 highest average property taxes in the U.S. in 2023. They were led by New Jersey, where the average single-family-home property tax of $9,488 in 2023 was almost 10 times the average of $989 in West Virginia, which had the nation’s smallest average levy. Others states in the top five last year were Connecticut ($8,022), New York ($7,936), Massachusetts ($7,414) and New Hampshire ($7,172).

The 10 states with the lowest average tax in 2023 were all in the South. Aside from West Virginia, the lowest were Alabama ($1,104), Arkansas ($1,296), Mississippi ($1,367) and Louisiana ($1,418).

Highest metro-area effective rates concentrated in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas
Among 223 metropolitan statistical areas around the country with a population of at least 200,000 in 2023, 15 of the 25 highest effective tax rates were in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Metro areas with the highest effective property tax rates in 2023 were Akron, OH (2.71 percent); Rockford, IL (2.41 percent); Champaign, IL (1.95 percent); Trenton, NJ (1.94 percent) and Peoria, IL (1.91 percent).

The highest effective rates among metro areas with a population of at least 1 million in 2023 were in Chicago, IL (1.84 percent); Rochester, NY (1.77 percent); Hartford, CT (1.76 percent); Cleveland, OH (1.66 percent) and Columbus, OH (1.45 percent).

The lowest effective rates in 2023 were in Daphne-Fairhope, AL (0.27 percent); Salisbury, MD (0.30 percent); Honolulu, HI (0.31 percent); Knoxville, TN (0.32 percent) and Tuscaloosa, AL (0.32 percent).

Aside from Honolulu, the lowest rates among metro areas with a population of at least 1 million in 2023 were in Phoenix, AZ (0.38 percent); Nashville, TN (0.45 percent); Las Vegas, NV (0.48 percent) and Salt Lake City, UT (0.49 percent).

Property taxes increase faster than national average in over half of the U.S.
Average property taxes rose by more than the national increase of 4.1 percent last year in 118, or 52.9 percent, of the 223 metro areas analyzed in the report.

Metro areas with a population of at least 1 million that had the largest increases in average property taxes from 2022 to 2023 were Charlotte, NC (up 31.5 percent); Indianapolis, IN (up 18.8 percent); Kansas City, MO (up 16.8 percent); Denver, CO (up 15.7 percent) and Atlanta, GA (up 15.2 percent).

Major markets with the largest decreases in average property taxes last year included Rochester, NY (down 28.6 percent); Houston, TX (down 26 percent); San Antonio, TX (down 11 percent); Baltimore, MD (down 8.3 percent) and Buffalo, NY (down 3 percent).

Average annual property tax tops $10,000 in 21 counties
Among 1,502 U.S. counties with at least 10,000 single-family homes in 2023, 21 had an average single-family-home property tax of more than $10,000. Of those, 12 were in the New York City metro area. The top five average taxes in counties with at least 100,000 single-family homes were in Essex County, NJ (outside New York City ($13,145); Bergen County, NJ (outside New York City) ($13,112); Nassau County (outside New York City), NY ($13,059); San Mateo County, CA ($13,001) and Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA ($12,462).

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency, and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications– AI-Ready Solutions. 

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

SOURCE ATTOM