Housing Supply Took a Bite Out of Housing Demand in February

February 2018 was the thirty-third month in a row of home supply decline in 15 metros, according to Redfin's Housing Demand Index data. Since February 2017, buyer demand decreased 6.5 percent.

Redfin's Housing Demand Index dropped 14.1 percent month-over-month in February 2018, the lowest level of homebuyer demand in 11 months, and the largest month-over-month decline on record for the Demand Index, originated in January 2013. The share of buyers requesting a home tour did increase in February, up 2.9 percent, yet the share of buyers making offers went down 20.1 percent, signaling the lack of supply hampering buying activity.

“There are still plenty of people touring homes; there just aren’t enough homes to satisfy all the buyers who want to make offers,” said Redfin head of analytics Pete Ziemkiewicz. “We’ve started off each of the past three years with inventory down double-digits from the year before, which has held back buyer activity until enough new listings hit the market to get the offers flowing in the Spring.”

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