The Share of Newly Listed Homes Drops as Sales Surge in January

Seasonally adjusted new listings fell 12.4% month over month in January, driving the number of homes for sale down 2.6% to a record low, but home buyers appeared unfazed as sales rose 7.5%, according to Redfin. With few available homes on the market and rising mortgage rates, buyers are snapping up homes almost immediately, but competition could slow by summer as more house hunters are priced out of a contentious market with limited supply.

The national median home sale price in January was up 14% year-over-year to $376,200, and some buyers are offering tens of thousands above already inflated asking prices for an extra edge against investment competition and all-cash offers.

“We believe that the inventory crunch will ease in the summer as rates rise, but may not go away in 2022,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman on Redfin’s Q4 earnings call. “We’re well aware of the economic pressures on homebuyers, but so many people are still so desperate to move that sales for now are still mostly constrained by inventory, not prices or even mortgage rates.”

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