Conditions in the housing market continue to hit new extremes, with the median home sales price shooting up 17% year-over-year to an all-time record of $338,225 for the four-week period ending April 4, according to Redfin. Active listings fell to a new low of 514,797, a 42% drop from 889,828 year-over-year.
With so many consumers battling for so few available properties, units sold in a median of 25 days — the fastest rate ever — down from 40 days the year before. Moreover, 46% of properties went under contract within a single week and 59% did so within two weeks. Both are new records.
This frenzied activity pushed the average sale-to-list price ratio for a four-week period to an all-time high of 100.5%, rising annually from 98.5%. The ratio broke 100% for the first time for the four weeks ending March 7. A 42% share of homes sold above listing price compared to 26% one year earlier.
While the housing market is more competitive than ever before, some indicators give reason to believe that demand and home prices could be “nearing a peak,” according to Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather.
Redfin’s homebuyer demand index — which is based on requests for home tours and other services and starts with a baseline score of 100 — spiked 147% year-over-year to 162 from 66 when the pandemic first struck. However, the index fell 2.2% on a weekly basis. New listings also rose annually by 5% to 81,185 from 77,470, reflecting a focus on increased construction and projected inventory growth for the rest of 2021, according to Redfin.
“Sellers’ asking prices may be starting to flatten in what so far appears to follow a typical seasonal pattern,” Fairweather said. “And the drop in mortgage purchase applications tells me that some buyers are dropping out due to the lack of affordable homes for sale. If these trends continue, we can feel more assured that we are not in the midst of runaway home price speculation or a housing bubble.”
