Home Sales Decline In April

The housing market saw a 8% year-over-year decline in home sales, the biggest drop since June 2020, which allowed white-hot home-price growth to cool slightly, reports online real estate brokerage firm Redfin.

In addition, home sales fell in 87 of the 88 the largest metro markets that Redfin tracks, with the largest drops happening in West Palm Beach, Fla., Anaheim, Calif., and Bridgeport, Conn. The only metro market to see an increase in home sales was in Allentown, Penn.

The company said in a report the median home sales price was $424,000, an increase of 16%, a drop from March’s median price increase of 17%.

“When market conditions are changing it becomes more difficult for homebuyers and sellers to see eye-to-eye on pricing,” said Redfin’s Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “Many sellers are still seeking sky-high prices for their homes even though rising mortgage rates have limited homebuyer budgets. As a result, buyers are backing off, which is causing home sales to fall and the housing shortage to ease.

“As demand continues to soften, more sellers will likely be forced to drop their prices in order to get offers. The good news is that this should finally bring more balance to the market,” he added.

Denver and Indianapolis saw homes receive offers the fastest, in four days after hitting the market. Newly listed homes in Omaha, Oklahoma City and Portland, Ore., were tied for second, seeing offers after being on the market for five days, Redfin reported.

The most competitive market in the country, the company said, was San Jose, Calif., where 88.5% of homes sold above list price, followed by 87.7% in Oakland, Calif., 78.7% in Denver, 77.8% in San Francisco, and 75.6% in Oxnard, Calif.

Las Vegas saw the highest price growth, Redfin said, with home prices jumping by 29% since last year to $445,000. West Palm Beach, Fla., had the second highest growth, with home prices jumping 28.6%, followed by Fort Worth, Texas, at 28.3%.

Source: Nationalmortgageprofessional.com