Home prices are sky-high, and a recent report from Redfin underlines that point with some staggering data.
Median home-sale prices increased 17% year-over-year to $335,613 – a record high, per data taken from more than 400 metro areas during the four-week period ending March 28, 2021. And asking prices of newly listed homes rose 14% year-over-year to $353,500, another all-time high.
Pending home sales were up 38% from the same period in 2020 — and up 28% from the same period 2019 — but pending sales grew just 0.9% from Redfin’s previous four-week report.
Sales in general are still high, per Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather — 59% of homes that went under contract in the current four-week period had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market — but the recent low numbers suggest some homebuyers have reached their limit on high home prices and bidding wars.
“Add to the mix a dwindling number of homes for sale and rising mortgage rates, and the typical family that is still searching for an affordable house may have missed the boat,” Fairweather said. “First-time homebuyers who were already stretching their budgets will have to make bigger compromises on size and location or resign to renting for another year.”
Fannie Mae on how to make housing more affordable
In the last few years, the number of existing single-family homes for sale has decreased. But home prices have increased. To make homeownership a possibility for everyone, there needs to be a higher supply of affordable homes.
Presented by: Fannie Mae
Active listings fell 42% according to the report, spurring would-be buyers to submit offers that are significantly over asking price and making the market difficult to navigate for first-time homebuyers and other price-conscious buyers. Redfin reported that 47% of homes that went under contract in the current four-week period had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market – yet another all-time high. And 41% of homes sold for more than their listed home price, which was 16 percentage points higher year-over-year.
Fairweather’s suggestion for those would-be buyers: look at condominiums and other more realistic purchases, build some equity, and wait this out.
“[President Joseph Biden’s] infrastructure plan aims to incentivize zoning for multifamily homes, which could increase the supply of affordable homes and provide even more people a path to homeownership,” Fairweather said. “But, there is no guarantee the incentives would be enough for local governments to change their zoning practices.”
The aforementioned infrastructure plan, dubbed the American Jobs Plan, aims to inject $213 billion into housing with the building of 500,000 homes in low- and middle-income areas. And two million affordable homes and commercial buildings would be built and renovated over the next decade as part of the initiative.
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