Home searches, home tours and mortgage applications all posted gains for the four weeks ending January 15. Home prices also marked a small increase, according to Redfin’s latest housing report.
The median U.S. home-sale price increased 0.9% from a year earlier to $350,250. Redfin says this is the first increase in a month. Prices are up because buyer activity has picked up, likely the result of mortgage rates dropping to their lowest level—6.15%—since September.
Pending home sales fell 29% year over year. While a significant decline, this is the first sub-30% drop in three months, according to the report.
Mortgage-purchase applications rose 25% from the week before during the week ending January 13. This will probably lead to more pending sales in the coming months.
New listings of homes for sale fell 20% year over year during the four weeks ending January 15. This is the smallest decline in two months.
Home-sale prices fell year over year in 18 of the 50 most populous U.S. metros during the four weeks ending January 15. By comparison, 20 metros saw a price decline during the prior four-week period and 11 metros saw price declines a month earlier.
San Francisco (-10.1%), San Jose (6.7%) and Austin (5.5%) topped the list of metros where prices fell the most, according to the report.
Google searches for “homes for sale” were up about 30% from their November low during the week ending January 14. That’s still down about 26% from a year earlier, according to Redfin.
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