Pending residence gross sales dropped 32 p.c yearly throughout the four-week interval ending Jan. 1, with the largest drop-offs recorded in markets that took off throughout the pandemic, in keeping with Redfin.
Pending residence gross sales started the yr at their lowest ranges since 2015, with the largest drop-offs seen in pandemic-era scorching spots, in keeping with new information launched Thursday by Redfin.
U.S. pending residence gross sales dropped 32 p.c yearly throughout the four-week interval ending Jan. 1, with the largest drop-offs recorded in markets that took off throughout the pandemic similar to Las Vegas, Phoenix and Austin, in keeping with Redfin. Pending gross sales in every of these cities fell by greater than 50 p.c.
Indicators of homebuyer demand have been blended in December, with Redfin’s Purchaser Demand Index — an in-house gauge of demand that appears at tour requests and different homebuying providers — rising 8 p.c from two weeks earlier, whereas mortgage buy functions fell 12 p.c. The dramatic decline in mortgage buy functions might seemingly be chalked as much as extreme winter storms hitting massive elements of the U.S., the report notes.
House costs fell in 19 of the 50 most populated U.S. cities in December, in keeping with the Redfin information, dropping 10.4 p.c yearly in San Francisco, 6 p.c in Sacramento and 5.6 p.c in San Jose.
The standard residence bought for $350,000, up simply 0.5 p.c from December of 2021, solely barely slower than the annual progress price of 0.7 p.c seen at the start of the pandemic when the housing market floor to a close to halt.
The present market might present a chance for consumers who could also be flush with money however have been unable to attain a house earlier in 2022 as a result of intense competitors, one Redfin agent surmised.
“Two classes of consumers are beginning their search proper now: First-timers hoping costs and competitors are extra manageable than they’ve been over the previous couple of years, and returning consumers who took a break after shedding out on a number of houses throughout the pandemic bidding-war frenzy,” Seattle Redfin agent Shoshana Godwin mentioned.
“They need to be capable of take their time and discover a residence for a barely lower cost than final yr, however the market will seemingly grow to be extra aggressive over the subsequent few months,” Godwin added. “I anticipate new listings to stay scarce as owners maintain onto low rates of interest whereas the pool of decided consumers circle the few houses which are out there.”
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