‘Quicker and Quicker’: Homes Selling at Blistering Pace

In a time of the year when the market typically slows, a new report from Redfin found that 33% of homes sell within a week of hitting the market—a number that has been on the rise for the last six weeks. 

Redfin Analyst Tim Ellis attributed the rise to homebuyer demand, which has remained steady and strong over the last few weeks. Home tours are also up 7% since January which is a 20% increase year-over-year. 

Largely fueled by a lack of supply (down 8% since last year), a third of pending sales (33%) were under contract within a week, up 3% from the same period last year. 45% of homes sold within two weeks.  

“Homes continue to sell quicker and quicker,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “There are still plenty of homebuyers lying in wait who missed out during the Spring frenzy, and they are snatching up homes quickly. Now, those homes are selling for near-record prices. The housing market will likely stay hot until mortgage rates rise substantially.” 

In addition, Redfin says that the median home-sale price increased 13% year-over-year to $358,125. This is up 30% from the same period in 2019. e

The report also found: 

• Asking prices of newly listed homes were up 11% from the same time a year ago and up 26% from 2019 to a median of $362,335, down 1% from the all-time high set during the four-week period ending October 3. 
• Pending home sales were up 2% year over year, and up 47% compared to the same period in 2019, which was a more typical year in terms of seasonality for sales and listings. 
• New listings of homes for sale were down 8% from a year earlier. New listings remained positive compared to 2019, up 6%. 
• Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 22% from 2020, and were down 40% from 2019. 
• 45% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 42% rate of a year earlier and the 31% rate in 2019. 
• Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 23 days, a full week longer than the all-time low of 15 days seen in late June and July, down from 31 days a year earlier and 44 days in 2019. 
• 45% of homes sold above list price, up from 35% a year earlier and 22% in 2019, but the smallest share since April. 
• On average, 4.9% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up 1.2 percentage points from the same time in 2020, up 0.1 points from 2019. 
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, was flat at 100.6%, the lowest level since April. In other words, the average home sold for 0.6% above its asking price. 
• Mortgage purchase applications increased 4% week over week (seasonally adjusted) during the week ending October 22. For the week ending October 21, 30-year mortgage rates rose to 3.09%, the highest level since early April. 

A full copy of the report can be viewed here.