Housing Metrics Show Signs of Rebound

Would-be homebuyers started moving off the sidelines as 2023 came to a close, spurred by downward-trending mortgage rates and an uptick in new listings.

Data compiled by Redfin showed several positive indicators of buyer demand and activity. Highlights included:

• Lowest weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate for week ending 12/21/2023 (6.67%) since June. (Freddie Mac)
• Mortgage-purchase applications for week ending 12/15/2023 up 7% from month earlier (but down 1% from a week earlier). (Mortgage Bankers Association)
• Google searches for “home for sale” as of 12/23/2023 up 8% from a month earlier (Google Trends)

Other key data for the housing market, based on statistics from 400+ U.S. metro areas, showed positive year-over-year changes for median sales price (up 4.5% — the largest increase since October 2022), median asking price (up 5.1%), new listings (up 12.2%, the largest increase since June 2021), share of homes that sold above list price (25%, up 2% YOY), and average sale-to-list price ratio up 0.5 pts to 98.5%.