104 0 Kommentare Redfin Reports Share of Homes with Price Drops Reaches a New High as Mortgage Rates Top 2008 Levels

(NASDAQ: RDFN) —The highest share of sellers on record dropped their list price during the four weeks ending June 12, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. This came as mortgage rates shot up to levels not seen since 2008, dwindling the pool of home shoppers.

Still, homebuying has never been more expensive. The typical buyer with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is looking at a monthly payment of $2,514, up from $1,692 a year ago. But those who remain in the market may notice they face less competition from other buyers. Homes are more likely to sit on the market for a few weeks, compared to last year when they would go under contract within a week, and home prices are being bid up less often than they were earlier in the spring.

“The housing market isn’t crashing, but it is experiencing a hangover as it comes down from an unsustainable high,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr. “Housing demand has already cooled significantly to the point that the industry has begun facing layoffs. This week’s rate hikes will further stretch homebuyers’ budgets to the point that many more may be priced out. While a lot of home sellers are already dropping their prices, more homeowners will likely decide to stay put now that the mortgage rate on a new home is significantly higher than their current one.”

“If it weren't for the surge in mortgage rates, the housing market would still be in a boom right now,” said Redfin Bay Area real estate agent James Cappello. “Demand from homebuyers was still extremely high as recently as February, but rates are making it really tough. Going from 3% to nearly 6% almost instantly has scared a lot of people out of the market.”

Leading indicators of homebuying activity:

For the week ending June 16, 30-year mortgage rates rose to 5.78%—the highest level since November 2008, and the largest one-week increase since 1987.
About the same number of people searched for “homes for sale” on Google—searches during the week ending June 11 were flat from a year earlier.
The seasonally-adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index—a measure of requests for home tours and other home-buying services from Redfin agents—was down 14% year over year during the week ending June 12. This was the ninth consecutive week of declines in the index.
Touring activity as of June 12 was 3% above the start of the year compared to 29% at this time last year, according to home tour technology company ShowingTime.
Mortgage purchase applications were down 16% from a year earlier, while the seasonally-adjusted index was up 8% week over week during the week ending June 10.