The average sale-to-list price ratio hit 100.1 percent during the four weeks ending July 2, marking the first time in nearly a year the average home is selling for more than its asking price, according to a new report from Redfin.
Additionally, the median home-sale price was down just $1,000 (-0.3 percent) from a year ago, when prices were near record highs.
A lack of homes for sale is the main reason homes are selling above their asking price, with new listings down 25 percent from a year ago and the total number of homes for sale down 12 percent as homeowners hang onto relatively low mortgage rates, according to Redfin.
Despite the double dilemma of low inventory and high prices, early-stage homebuyer demand is picking up. Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index is up 4 percent from a month earlier and near its highest level in over a year.
Other leading Redfin indicators of homebuying activity include:
• The daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.08 percent on July 5, down just slightly from a half-year high of 7.14 percent a month earlier. For the week ending June 29, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.71 percent, up slightly from the week earlier, but down slightly from the eight-month high of 6.79 percent at the beginning of the month.
• Mortgage-purchase applications during the week ending June 23 rose 3 percent from a week earlier, seasonally adjusted. Purchase applications were down 21 percent from a year earlier.
• The seasonally adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index was down slightly from the week earlier but still near its highest level since May 2022 during the week ending July 2. It was up 11 percent from a year earlier, the sixth consecutive annual increase. Demand was dropping at this time in 2022 as mortgage rates rose.
• Touring activity as of July 2 was up 6 percent from the start of the year, compared with an 11 percent decrease at the same time last year, according to home tour technology company ShowingTime. Tours increased slowly during this time last year as mortgage rates shot up.