The median home sale price rose 14 percent year-over-year to $376,800 in September, the lowest growth rate since December 2020, according to a recent Redfin report. Closed home sales fell by 5 percent year-over-year, and new listings of homes fell by 9 percent.
“The severe lack of inventory is restricting home sales,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “Even though plenty of people bought homes last year, many homebuyers waited while the pandemic went from bad to worse and remote-work policies were finalized. The homebuyers who are just beginning their search are finding that the well has run dry. But I am hopeful that as it becomes easier to get building materials, we will finally have a strong year for new construction in 2022. That's what the market needs more than anything.”
Median sale prices increased year-over-year in all but one of the 85 metro areas Redfin tracks: Bridgeport, Conn., where prices were down 2.2 percent. The largest price increases in September were in North Port, Fla. (up 30 percent), Salt Lake City (up 28 percent) and Austin, Texas (up 27 percent).
Seasonally adjusted home sales in September were down 5 percent year-over-year, the second annual decline in 16 months. The biggest sales declines were seen in New Orleans (-42 percent), Bridgeport, Conn. (-24 percent), and Salt Lake City (-23 percent). The largest gains were in New York (+26 percent), Honolulu (+24 percent) and San Jose, Calif. (+15 percent).
Seasonally adjusted active listings fell 19 percent year-over-year in September, on par with the previous month. Only three metros tracked by Redfin posted a year-over-year increase in the number of seasonally adjusted active listings of homes for sale: Austin, Texas (+3 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+3 percent) and Columbus, Ohio (+0.3 percent). The biggest year-over-year declines in active housing supply in September were in Baton Rouge, La. (-53 percent), Salt Lake City (-50 percent) and Rochester, N.Y. (-47 percent).
Seasonally adjusted new listings of homes for sale were down 9 percent in September from a year earlier. The biggest declines were in Baton Rouge, La. (-59 percent), Allentown, Pa. (-57 percent) and Salt Lake City (-51 percent). New listings rose the most from a year ago in Austin, Texas (+18 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+9 percent) and Portland, Ore. (+8 percent).