U.S. housing supply receives boost, marks first increase in eight months MABA MassachusettsRealEstate FirstTimeHomeBuyers MaBuyerAgent

With the spring market right around the corner, the U.S. housing supply finally got a boost. For the first time in eight months, new listings rose nationally in February, the biggest increase in nearly three years, according to a new Redfin report. With the spring market just around the corner, new listings rose thirteen percent during the four weeks ended March 3, increasing the total number of homes for sale by one point seven percent. February’s boost was the first increase following eight months of declines, bringing hope for house hunters. During the four weeks ended March 3, asking prices had their smallest increase in nearly two months and five point five percent of sellers dropped their asking prices, the highest February share since 2015.

The median asking price rose five point one poercent to three hundred ninety nine thousand two hundred and twenty three dollars. Meanwhile, the median sale price increased five point three percent year over year to three hundred sixty eight thousand five hundred and eighty eight dollars. According to Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index, requests for tours and services from Redfin agents are up twenty three percent from the start of the year and mortgage rate applications are up eleven percent week over week. Despite all that activity, pending sales were down six percent from last year.

“There have been two major obstacles for homebuyers over the last year: Low inventory and high housing costs,” said Redfin  Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao. “Now, the first barrier is starting to come down as more supply comes on the market. Housing costs are still high, but they’re likely to come down a bit as mortgage rates gradually decline through the year and price growth loses some steam. Buyers who can afford today’s mortgage rates may have better luck finding a home now than they have in the past several months, and they also may be less likely to face competition because inventory is improving.”

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