Home prices increase as falling mortgage rates attract buyers MABA MassachusettsRealEstate FirstTimeHomeBuyers MassBuyerAgents

 Home prices nationwide showed the biggest increase in a month while declining mortgage rates are bringing more buyers to the market, according to a new Redfin report. The median home sale price in the four weeks ended January 15 rose point nine percent from 2022 to $350,250. The jump comes as more potential buyers are conducting home searches and mortgage applications are rising. More buyers have entered the market in the past four weeks as mortgage rates fell, dropping to six point fifteen percent during the week ended January 19, marking the lowest level since September. Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr said those who started looking at homes online and scheduling tours at the end of last year are now turning into actual homebuyers. “Low competition, falling mortgage rates and seller concessions are bringing some buyers back to the market,” Marr said.

 “That’s helping keep national home prices afloat, which is one bright spot for sellers. But many buyers are still sitting on the sidelines and demand could dip back down if inflation declines slower than expected or mortgage rates rise again.” Year over year, though, home prices fell in eighteen of the country’s fifty most populous metros, during the four weeks ended January 15, the report found. Prices were down year-over-year ten point one percent in San Francisco, six point seven percent in San Jose, five point five percent in Austin, four point three percent in Detroit, three point eight percent in Seattle, three point seven percent in Phoenix, three point four percent in Sacramento, three point one percent in San Diego, two point eight percent in Anaheim, California, two point five percent in Chicago, two point four percent in Los Angeles, two point three percent in Oakland, California and two point two percent in Boston.
In Riverside, California, Portland, Oregon, New York, Newark, New Jersey, and Las Vegas, home prices fell less than two percent.

 Thirty-year mortgage rates dropped to six point fifteen percent for the week ending January 19. The daily average, according to the report, was six point four percent on January 18. Meanwhile, mortgage applications rose twenty five percent on January 13 from a week prior and purchase applications were down twenty six percent from 2022. With the lower rate, the average monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home was $2,262, unchanged from the week prior but down $245 from October’s peak. Year over year, though, monthly mortgage payments are up thirty percent. In the four weeks ended January 15, active listings rose twenty one point eight percent from last year, marking the biggest annual increase since 2015. Meanwhile, new listings fell twenty percent from last year, the biggest drop on record.

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