Friday Fluff Weekly Headlines

Update housing, Inflation, and Consumer spending

Almost one year ago, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman spoke with Bloomberg Radio about the state of the US housing market and said that the ongoing surge in home prices could subside. Kelman said the housing market was in a frenzy, with most houses selling above the asking prices, which has never happened before, although he warned that "after record gains in the first quarter, some home prices are likely to stall."

That statement illustrated vividly that even the people who are supposed to know their industry the best, are often just as clueless as the rest of us, and in the subsequent month US home prices continued to rise dramatically, hitting an all-time high by late 2021 at which point they plateaued around a 20% Y/Y clip.

In a blog published this week, Redfin analyst Tim Ellis shares more evidence that the housing market has indeed topped, and that early indicators of homebuyer activity have faltered further as mortgage rates shoot up above 5%, pushing demand lower - a predictable outcome which we previewed a month ago in "Housing Affordability Is About To Crash The Most On Record" - and which means that sellers have no choice but to follow with more price cuts.

Below we excerpt from Redfin's latest observations on the slowing housing market.

Housing Market Update: Demand Slips, Pushing More Sellers to Drop Asking Prices

Early-stage homebuying demand continues to falter this spring as new listings fell 7% from a year earlier, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate shot up to 5% and the median asking price climbed to $397,747, sending the typical homebuyer’s monthly payment up 35% year over year to an all-time high of $2,288. Here are the key early indicators that tell us demand is softening at a time of year it typically springs up:

Fewer people searched for “homes for sale” on Google—searches during the week ending April 9 were down 3% from a year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index—a measure of requests for home tours and other home-buying services from Redfin agents—has declined 3% in the past four weeks, compared to a 5% increase during the same period last year. The index was up 2% from a year earlier.

Touring activity from the first week of January through April 10 was 23 percentage points behind the same period in 2021, according to home tour technology company ShowingTime.

Mortgage purchase applications were down 6% from a year earlier, while the seasonally-adjusted index increased 1% week over a week during the week ending April 8.

For the week ending April 14, 30-year mortgage rates rose to 5%—the highest level since February 2011. This was up from 4.72% the prior week, and the fastest three-month rise since May 1994.

We’re also closely watching the accelerating share of home listings with price drops, which is climbing at its fastest spring pace since at least 2015, another sign that demand is not meeting sellers’ expectations.

“There really is a limit to homebuyer demand, even though the market over the past few years has made it seem endless,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “The sharp increase in mortgage rates is pushing more homebuyers out of the market, but it also appears to be discouraging some homeowners from selling. With demand and supply both slipping, the market isn’t likely to flip from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market anytime soon.”

Despite these early signs that the market is slowing, it still feels as hot as ever for homebuyers, with new records set for home-selling speeds and price escalations, based on data going back to 2015. Forty-five percent of homes that went under contract found a buyer within one week, and the average home that sold went for 2.4% above its asking price.

“If a home is on the market for more than a week, people start to wonder why or assume something is wrong with it,” said Redfin Boston real estate agent James Gulden. “Every offer I’ve written recently has faced multiple offers, but some people have finally had enough of all the competition and are pulling out. They’re becoming less willing to make a risky offer in a high-stress bidding war situation.”

Key housing market takeaways for 400+ U.S. metro areas:

Unless otherwise noted, the data in this report covers the four-week period ending April 10. Redfin’s housing market data goes back through 2012.

Data based on homes listed and/or sold during the period:

The median home sale price was up 17% year over year to a record high of $389,178.

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