U.S. housing supply receives boost, marks first increase in eight months

by Liz Hughes on Atlanta Agent Magazine

With the spring market right around the corner, the U.S. housing supply finally got a boost. 

For the first time in eight months, new listings rose nationally in February, the biggest increase in nearly three years, according to a new Redfin report. 

With the spring market just around the corner, new listings rose 13% during the four weeks ended March 3, increasing the total number of homes for sale by 1.7%. 

February’s boost was the first increase following eight months of declines, bringing hope for house hunters. 

During the four weeks ended March 3, asking prices had their smallest increase in nearly two months and 5.5% of sellers dropped their asking prices, the highest February share since 2015. 

The median asking price rose 5.1% to $399,223. Meanwhile, the median sale price increased 5.3% year over year to $$368,588. 

According to Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index, requests for tours and services from Redfin agents are up 23% from the start of the year and mortgage rate applications are up 11% week over week. Despite all that activity, pending sales were down 6% from last year. 

“There have been two major obstacles for homebuyers over the last year: Low inventory and high housing costs,” said Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao. “Now, the first barrier is starting to come down as more supply comes on the market. Housing costs are still high, but they’re likely to come down a bit as mortgage rates gradually decline through the year and price growth loses some steam. Buyers who can afford today’s mortgage rates may have better luck finding a home now than they have in the past several months, and they also may be less likely to face competition because inventory is improving.”

Full article: https://atlantaagentmagazine.com/2024/03/12/u-s-housing-supply-receives-boost-marks-first-increase-in-eight-months/