The
Inventories rose 12% year-on-year. The total of more than 900,000 homes on the market last month was the highest number in February since 2020. The number of new homes increased 20% compared to January and was 21% higher than the same month in 2022.
Zillow’s surveys have recently shown that a large number of current owners are planning to sell within the next three years.
“We are finally starting to see owners who have postponed steps returning to the market,” Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, said in a news release. ‘For many households with record assets, we have to wait and see
But the time from listing to contract in February averaged 17 days, not as fast as 2021 and 2022, but still faster than before the pandemic.
Homes that aren’t priced appropriately or don’t have “curb appeal” have pushed the average time on market to 53 days, which is longer than normal for that time of year, according to Zillow.
The share of listings where the seller lowered the price was 20.1%, which was higher than normal, according to Zillow.
The Zillow Home Value Index calculated the typical home size
A separate report from Redfin released Thursday found that the average monthly home payment was $2,686 for the four weeks ending March 10. This was only $30 below the record high set in October 2023. The combination of still high mortgage rates and rising prices was responsible for this.
Redfin’s own data shows that new listings rose 13% over the period, the largest annual increase in nearly three years. In addition, the total number of homes for sale increased by 3%, the largest increase in nine months.
However, mortgage rates are likely to remain high for a while, especially after this week’s Consumer Price Index report, which further reinforces the view that the Federal Open Market Committee is unlikely to cut short-term interest rates before June, said Chen Zhao, economic director of Redfin. research leader, according to a press release.
‘Buyers who can afford it
That’s already starting to happen at the
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Application Survey for the period ending March 8 reported that the conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.84%, down 18 basis points from the previous week.
The purchase index component of the application survey increased seasonally adjusted by 4.7% compared to March 1, but decreased by 10.8% compared to the same period in 2023.
“The decline in interest rates led to a solid increase in mortgage applications for the second week in a row,” MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit said in a statement Thursday morning. “As the spring homebuying season arrives, lower mortgage rates and increased supply of new and existing homes should boost mortgage demand.”
First American Financial expects existing home sales to rise 1.4% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.05 million.
“The narrowing mortgage rate differential was the biggest driver behind the expected increase in our outlook for existing home sales in February,” Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, said in a statement. “About 90% of homeowners are financially discouraged from selling their home in today’s housing market because it would be more expensive today to borrow the same amount they owe on their current mortgage.”
But the difference between the average rate for a 30-year FRM and the effective rate on outstanding mortgage debt in February “fueled a 1.3 percentage point increase in the expected monthly change in existing home sales,” Fleming said.