Elevated
mortgage
rates,
high

home
prices
and
a
lack
of
for-sale
listings
continue
to
hamper
U.S.
home
sales,
with


Redfin

reporting
Friday
that
sales
in
May
2024
dropped
to
one
one
of
the
lowest
levels
of
the
past
decade.

The
annualized
rate
of
home
sales,
adjusted
for
seasonality,
fell
below
408,000
last
month.
That
was
down
1.7%
from
the
prior
month
and
2.9%
below
year-ago
levels.

According
to
the
national

real
estate
brokerage,
only
two
months
in
the
past
decade
have
seen
lower
levels
of
home
sales
than
last
month.
The
first
occurred
in
May
2020,
when
the
lockdowns
imposed
during
the

COVID-19
pandemic
brought
in-person
showings
and
sales
to
a
halt.
The
second
occurred
in
October
2023
when

mortgage
rates
peaked
at
their
highest
point
since
2000.

Data
continues
to
reflect
seller-friendly
market
conditions
as
the
median
sale
price
reached
another
record
high
of
$439,716
—
up
5.1%
year
over
year.
This
is
due
to
a
lack
of
supply
as
the
number
of
listings
in
May
remained
about
25%
below
pre-pandemic
levels,
Redfin
reported.

“Buyers
today
are
facing
many
of
the
realities
of
a
hot
market
even
though
few
homes
are
changing
hands,”
Redfin
senior
economist
Elijah
de
la
Campa
said
in
the
report.
“Sales
are
sluggish
because
high
homebuying
costs
are
making
both
house
hunters
and
prospective
sellers
skittish.
And
with
so
few
homes
for
sale,
buyers
in
some
markets
are
getting
into

bidding
wars,
which
is
helping
push
home
prices
to
record
highs.”

One
factor
working
in
favor
of
buyers,
however,
is
the
fact
that
one
in
five
listings
(19.2%)
in
May
included
a
price
cut,
Redfin
reported.
That
was
up
from
13.2%
in
May
2023
and
close
to
the
record
high
of
21.7%
seen
in
October
2022.

Some
metro
areas,
including
Indianapolis,
Tampa
and
Denver,
saw
more
than
40%
of
listings
accompanied
by
a
price
cut.
At
the
other
end
of
the
spectrum
were
Newark,
New
Jersey;
Lake
County,
Illinois;
and
Milwaukee,
where
fewer
than
one
in
six
listings
had
received
a
cut.

“Some
sellers
are
reducing
their
prices
because
they
listed
their
home
for
too
much
initially
and
it
ended
up
sitting
on
the
market,“
the
report
explained.
“Price
drops
are
particularly
common
in
areas
where
housing
supply
has
been
rising
quickly,
like

Florida
and

Texas.
In
these
areas,
individual
home
sellers
have
been
facing
strong
competition
from
homebuilders.“

Of
the
10
U.S.
metros
with
the
highest
shares
of
price
cuts,
three
were
in
Florida
and
three
were
in
Texas.

A
separate

Redfin
report
published
Wednesday
noted
that
the
share
of
listings
considered
“stale“
had
grown
over
the
past
year.
Last
month,
61.9%
of
listings
had
been
on
the
market
for
at
least
30
days
without
going
under
contract,
up
from
60%
one
year
ago
and
50%
two
years
ago.

Furthermore,
two
in
five
homes
(40.1%)
homes
listed
last
month
had
been
on
the
market
for
at
least
60
days,
up
from
a
share
of
27.8%
in
May
2022.

“More
homes
for
sale
paired
with
slow
demand
means
that
less-desirable
listings
are
piling
up,
leaving
some
of
them
without
a
buyer,“
the
report
stated.

In
analyzing
the
85
U.S.
metro
areas
with
a
population
of
750,000
or
more,
Redfin
found
that
Anaheim,
California,
led
the
nation
with
median
sale
price
growth
of
17.6%
during
the
year
ending
in
May
2024.
It
was
followed
by
Cleveland
(+15.1%)
and
Nassau
County,
New
York
(+14.2%).

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