Home Sale Prices See Largest Increase Since 2014

Strong buyer demand continues to fuel the housing market’s unprecedented recovery. For the period ending on July 26, pending home sales, mortgage purchase applications, home sale prices, and the sale-to-list price ratio have seen substantial growth, according to Redfin.com. With housing inventory slashed by 30%, home prices have gone up 11% year over year, the largest increase since 2014. Pending home sales increased by 12% year over year. Asking prices grew by 14% year over year as well, and this may be its peak, Redfin says.

The U.S. housing market continued to see strong demand from homebuyers for the four-week period ending July 26. The seasonally-adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index was up 27% from pre-pandemic levels in January and February. Pending home sales were up 12% compared to a year earlier, driven by mortgage rates that remain near historic lows.

One factor spurring strong pending sales keeping sales from declining more quickly may be buyers who delayed purchasing in the spring now rushing to buy before school starts in the fall. “School districts are still important even with the uncertainty of everything that has happened this year,” added Salt Lake City Redfin agent Campbell Dosch. “Homebuyers are focused on the fact that we’ll eventually overcome this, it’s not going to be forever, so finding a home with good schools is still important to them.”

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