The median home-sale price rose 2.2 percent year-over-year during the four weeks ending Sept. 14, the biggest increase in five months. That’s according to a new report from Redfin.
This week’s median monthly housing payment is $2,590, up slightly from last week’s nine-month low but still near the lowest level of 2025. Payments increased despite the weekly average mortgage rate dropping to 6.35 percent, the lowest level in nearly a year, because of rising prices, according to the report.
Prices are rising despite slow sales because new listings are dwindling, according to Redfin. Pending home sales are up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, the smallest increase in two months. New listings are up 1.1 percent, marking the third straight month they have increased or decreased by about 1 percent or less, and total listings are up 9.9 percent, the smallest increase since March 2024.
Mortgage rates have dropped to 6.35 percent from roughly 6.9 percent at the start of the summer because of weaker-than-expected jobs reports and anticipation of the Fed’s first interest-rate cut of the year, which came this week. The Federal Open Market Committee voted Sept. 17 to lower the federal funds target range by 1/4 percentage point to 4 to 4 1/4 percent.
“It is definitely a buyer’s market here,” Denver-based Redfin Senior Premier Agent Tamara Mattox-Kabat said in a release. “If they’re not priced and presented well from the outset, many homes are sitting on the market longer than usual, and many sellers are open to concessions. A lot of buyers are waiting for interest rates to drop further before making offers. The problem with that strategy is that if rates do fall again, more buyers will come off the sidelines, prices will rise, and sellers will regain their leverage. That means even with lower mortgage rates, buyers could end up with a higher monthly payment.”
The Fed signaled two more potential cuts before the end of the year. Redfin economists expect mortgage rates to remain steady as markets await further economic data, particularly the next jobs report, which comes out at the start of October.