The driving costs associated with owning a home account for 34% of the average national salary; according to Redfin, this percentage decreases when mortgage rates decline and the surge in housing prices subsides; historically, affordability also increases slightly but remains inadequate.
After 60 Days On The Market, Half Of All Home Listings Have Become Stale And Unsold
August experienced a further slowdown in the lackluster summer market, with home sales reaching a record low since the epidemic began.
“We usually see home sales pick up when mortgage rates fall, but this year we are seeing the opposite—sales are dropping and homes are sitting longer on the market,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “Last week’s big interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve will give buyers a boost in confidence, but it remains to be seen whether sales will speed up in any meaningful way as we move into the slower Fall season.”
Nearly 70% of Homes are Sitting for at Least a Month
Nearly seven out of every 10 homes (68.5%) on the market last month had been sitting for at least 30 days, up from 63.9% a year ago.
It was the sixth consecutive month that the share of month-old listings increased and the highest share for any August since before the pandemic in 2019.
“For a home to sell fast, or with multiple bids, it needs to be immaculately presented and have a unique design, or additional features like a pool,” said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier agent in Austin, TX. “I had a home receive multiple offers about a month ago—a rarity for us at the moment. It sold quickly and for $25,000 over list price because of how pretty it was—everything was perfectly painted, clean and manicured.”
Homes Sell in Less Than Two Weeks in Seattle, Compared to More Than Nine Weeks in Several Florida Metros
Another way to examine the speed of the market is by looking at the median number of days it takes for homes to find a buyer.
“Anyone who has been paying attention to the housing market over the past few years knows that desirable homes sell right away. That’s been true ever since the overall market slowed down after mortgage rates shot up a couple years ago,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “Now if a home is still on the market after a few weeks, buyers assume there’s something wrong with it. That’s why it’s so important to price your home to move quickly. Buyers see the days on market, and when it starts to tick up, it’s like a scarlet letter.”
The typical U.S. home was listed for 37 days before going under contract in August—six days longer than a year earlier. But the results were wildly different depending on where you were in the country.
The typical Seattle home was snatched up in 12 days in August, the quickest result of the 50 most-populous metros that Redfin analyzed, but still four days slower than a year earlier.
Indianapolis (16 days), Warren, MI (17 days), San Jose, CA (18 days) and Oakland, CA (20 days) rounded out the top five major metros where homes sold the fastest.
To view the full report, including charts, additional metro-level data and methodology, click here.
