SEATTLE, March 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- (NASDAQ:
RDFN) — Home prices increased 8.8 percent year over year in
February, according to Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation
real estate brokerage. The median sale price was $285,700 across the markets Redfin serves. This
was the strongest February for price appreciation since
March 2014. February also
marks six years, or 72 consecutive
months, of year-over-year price increases since the market bottomed
out and began to recover.
Constrained by a lack of supply, February home sales were nearly
flat, up just 0.4 percent compared to last year. February saw an
11.4 percent decline in the overall number of homes for sale,
marking the 29th consecutive month of year-over-year supply
declines.
Notwithstanding affordability concerns and low inventory, buyer
demand remained strong and market speed continued to increase. The
typical home that sold last month went under contract in 53 days, a
week faster than one year prior. More than one in five (21.1%)
homes that sold last month went for more than their list price, up
from 19.6 percent last February. Of the offers Redfin agents wrote
for their clients in February, 56 percent encountered competition
compared to 58 percent last February.
"Mortgage rates pushed upwards in February to the highest levels
in nearly three years as home prices increased by their fastest
pace since March 2014," said Redfin
Chief economist Nela Richardson. "A
growing economy, healthy buyer demand and low inventory drove the
ramp up in prices last month. Combining even slightly higher rates
with price growth this strong will make it even more challenging
for first-time buyers to find affordable homes to buy this year.
The good news for sellers is modest rate increases are unlikely to
curtail buyer demand. Just 6 percent of respondents to a survey
commissioned by Redfin said they would cancel their home buying
plans if rates rose above 5 percent."
The median value of off-market homes was $283,300, as measured by the Redfin Estimate, up
8.9 percent from last year. 58.1 percent of homes on the market in
February were priced above their Redfin Estimate value, with a
Redfin-List-to-Estimate Ratio of 100.3 percent, indicating that
sellers are slightly overpricing their homes.
Market
Summary
|
February
2018
|
Month-Over-Month
|
Year-Over-Year
|
Median sale
price
|
$285,700
|
2.7%
|
8.8%
|
Homes sold
|
166,100
|
-0.8%
|
0.4%
|
New
listings
|
254,700
|
9.1%
|
-1.2%
|
All homes for
sale
|
607,800
|
2.9%
|
-11.4%
|
Median days on
market
|
53
|
0
|
-7
|
Months of
supply
|
3.7
|
0.2
|
-0.4
|
Sold above
list
|
21.1%
|
1.8%
|
1.5%
|
Median off-market
Redfin Estimate
|
$283,300
|
0.8%
|
8.9%
|
Average
sale-to-list
|
97.8%
|
0.2%
|
-0.1%
|
Other February Highlights
Competition
- Seattle, WA was the fastest
market, with half of all homes pending sale in just 8 days, down
from 12 days from a year earlier. Denver,
CO and San Jose, CA were
the next fastest markets with 9 and 10 median days on market,
followed by Oakland, CA (13) and
San Francisco, CA (14).
- The most competitive market in February was San Jose, CA where 83.1% of homes sold above
list price, followed by 74.4% in San
Francisco, CA, 67.5% in Oakland,
CA, 54.8% in Seattle, WA,
and 44.4% in Tacoma, WA.
Prices
- San Jose, CA had the nation's
highest price growth, rising 34.1% since last year to $1,180,000. Detroit,
MI had the second highest growth at 19.8% year-over-year
price growth, followed by Fresno,
CA (19.5%), Tacoma, WA
(17.9%), and New Orleans, LA
(17.7%).
- No metros saw price declines in February.
Sales
- Long Island, NY saw the largest decline in sales since last
year, falling 32.6%. Home sales in Minneapolis, MN and Miami, FL declined by 13.0% and 12.9%,
respectively.
- 6 out of 73 metros saw sales surge by double digits from last
year. Louisville, KY led the
nation in year-over-year sales growth, up 24.7%, followed by
Greenville, SC, up 18.4%.
Oklahoma City, OK rounded out the
top three with sales up 15.8% from a year ago.
Inventory
- Rochester, NY had the largest
decrease in overall inventory, falling 40% since last February.
Buffalo, NY (-39.6%), Atlanta, GA (-33.1%), and Albany, NY (-30.7%) also saw far fewer homes
available on the market than a year ago.
- Salt Lake City, UT had the
highest increase in the number of homes for sale, up 49.9% year
over year, followed by Baton Rouge,
LA (31.8%) and Washington,
DC (13.9%).
Redfin Estimate
- The median list price-to-Redfin Estimate ratio was 93.3% in
San Francisco, CA, the lowest of
any market. This indicates the typical home for sale in February
was listed at a price 6.7% below its estimated value. Only 8.1% of
homes in San Francisco, CA were
listed for more than their Redfin Estimate.
- Conversely, the median list price-to-Redfin Estimate ratio was
102.6% in Miami, FL and 102.3% in
West Palm Beach, FL, which means
sellers are listing their homes for more than the estimated value
in those metro areas. In Miami,
FL, 86.4% of homes were listed above their Redfin Estimate,
the highest percentage of any metro.
To read the full report, complete with data and charts, please
visit the following link:
https://www.redfin.com/blog/2018/03/market-tracker-february-2018.html
About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate
brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern
technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded
by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage
website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including
the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the
industry's lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers
and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience
from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in
commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across
the U.S. The company has closed more than $60 billion in home sales.
For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate
agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends
and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to
Redfin's press release distribution list, subscribe here. To view
Redfin's press center, click here.
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SOURCE Redfin