U.S. Home Prices Continue Their Ascent, Even as High Costs Deter Homebuyers

Redfin reports elevated mortgage rates are curbing homebuyer demand, but prices continue to tick up because there aren’t enough homes for sale

(NASDAQ: RDFN) — U.S. home prices climbed 0.5% from a month earlier in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, and rose 7.3% from a year earlier, per a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

This is according to the Redfin Home Price Index (RHPI), which uses the repeat-sales pricing method to calculate seasonally adjusted changes in prices of single-family homes. The RHPI measures sale prices of homes that sold during a given period and how those prices have changed since the last time those same homes sold. It’s similar to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices but publishes more than one month earlier. April data covers the three months ending April 30, 2024.

Home-sale prices have been rising by about a half of a percentage point per month for the last six months. Price growth has stabilized at this rate following dramatic ups and downs during the pandemic homebuying boom and is now on par with pre-pandemic levels.

Elevated mortgage rates and high home prices have cooled homebuyer demand, but prices continue to tick up because there aren’t enough homes for sale. New listings have increased in recent months but remain roughly 20% below pre-pandemic levels. That’s largely because many homeowners don’t want to sell, as they feel “locked in” by the low mortgage rate they scored during the pandemic.

“Some of my younger buyers are considering buying a multifamily home and renting half of it out in order to make their monthly payments pencil out,” said Bonnie Phillips, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Cleveland.

Last week, homebuyers’ monthly payments came down slightly from April’s all-time high when mortgage rates fell below 7% for the first time in five weeks.

To view the full report, including charts and metro-level data, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-home-price-index-april-2024

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can have our renovations crew fix it up to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

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, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

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