New listings are up over 2019, but buyer interest is waning

The inventory shortage is starting to ease as more sellers listed their properties in the four-week period ended July 4 compared with 2019 for the first time since January, according to Redfin.

And potential purchasers are starting to play the waiting game, reinforcing previous Redfin research that the home sales market is cooling.

"Buyers don't have the same sense of urgency that they did at the beginning of the year," Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's chief economist said in a press release. "They aren't racing to buy before prices increase, because asking prices have already increased and stabilized."

Additionally, the average 30-year fixed rate is back below 3% and is likely to stay low for the foreseeable future, Fairweather continued.

A total of 94,539 homes were listed for sale for the period, compared with 91,222 one year ago and 91,769 in 2019. It wasn’t until July 2020 that listings returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile the total number of active listings — those listed for sale at any point during the period — was 32% lower compared with one year ago. However, this is the smallest annual decline since the four-week period ending Feb. 7 and the total reflects an 8% increase since their 2021 low point of March 7.

Pending home sales were up 17% year-over-year, but that is the smallest annual increase since July 19, 2020.

While the median home-sale price hit a record high, increasing 22% annually to $364,430, the asking price for newly listed homes was up just 12% to $359,000. When compared with the four-week period ended June 27, the asking price was down by 1.1%.

But there are other indicators countering Fairweather's comments about a slowing market. The median time from listing to sale is down to 15 days for the period, a decrease from 39 days one year ago. More than half of the homes under contract, 54%, had an accepted offer within two weeks of listing; 40% in seven days. That's up from 45% and 32% respectively in 2020.

A record 55% sold above the list price, up from 27% a year earlier. Plus the average home sold for 2.4% over what the buyer put it on the market for, another record high, Redfin said.