The median monthly housing payment remains near record highs, but slowing price growth, declining mortgage rates and a pileup of supply is giving homebuyers in certain parts of the country room to negotiate.
The median U.S. home-sale price rose 3.7% year over year during the four weeks ending February 16, the smallest increase since September. Additionally, the weekly average mortgage rate dipped to 6.87%, its lowest level of the year.
While typical monthly housing costs remain near record highs, decelerating price growth and gradually declining rates are among several small pieces of good news for house hunters this week. Here are the others:
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- Homebuyers have more total inventory to choose from. There are five months of supply on the market, up from 4.1 months a year earlier and the most since early 2019 (except the 4 weeks ending January 26, when there were 5.1 months). Supply is piling up because listings are rising while pending home sales are falling.
- Buyers have more new inventory to choose from, too. New listings are up 4.2% year over year to their highest level for any comparable time period in three years.
- Buyers have more negotiating power. The typical home is selling for 2% less than its asking price, the biggest discount in two years. Additionally, the typical home that sells is taking 57 days to go under contract, the longest span in five years. A slow market in which the typical home is selling under list price means buyers in many markets have the opportunity to negotiate on prices and terms.
Some markets are more buyer friendly than others. For example, the coastal Florida market is tilting in buyers’ favor, while sellers are generally in the driver’s seat in some West Coast and Northeast markets. Additionally, these conditions may be short-lived as more buyers come off the sidelines. Home-touring activity is rising, according to both ShowingTime data and Google data, and Redfin agents in certain areas report that house hunters are gearing up for spring homebuying season.
“If a home needs work or it’s priced too high, it’s sitting on the market,” said Cody Brownfield, a Redfin Premier agent in Cincinnati. “That’s when a buyer has bargaining power. But updated homes that are priced right–especially those located in desirable neighborhoods with highly rated schools–are selling quickly, sometimes for tens of thousands of dollars over the asking price. It seems like every buyer is looking for the same type of house.”
Pending sales, listings are up in Los Angeles in aftermath of wildfires
In Los Angeles, pending home sales rose 7.4% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending February 16, making it one of just seven major metros where sales are increasing. New listings in Los Angeles rose 21.9%, the third-biggest increase in the U.S.
The uptick in housing-market activity among both homebuyers and sellers likely stems from January’s Palisades and Eaton wildfires, which destroyed thousands of homes in Los Angeles. Some affluent buyers who lost their homes are now buying new ones, and some homeowners are selling to meet the demand. Additionally, some buyers throughout Los Angeles pressed pause on their house hunt in January and are picking it back up now.
For Redfin economists’ takes on the housing market, please visit Redfin’s “From Our Economists” page.
Leading indicators
| Indicators of homebuying demand and activity | ||||
| Value (if applicable) | Recent change | Year-over-year change | Source | |
| Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate | 7.03% (Feb. 19) | Down from 7.13% a week earlier | Down from 7.16% | Mortgage News Daily |
| Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate | 6.87% (week ending Feb. 13) | Down from 7.04% a month earlier | Up from 6.77% | Freddie Mac |
| Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted) | Down 6% from a week earlier (as of week ending Feb. 14) | Up 7% | Mortgage Bankers Association | |
| Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted) | Near 6-month low
(as of week ending Feb. 16) |
Down 1% | Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents | |
| Touring activity | Up 13% from the start of the year (as of Feb. 18) | At this time last year, it was up 14% from the start of 2024 | ShowingTime, a home touring technology company | |
| Google searches for “home for sale” | Up 15% from a month earlier (as of Feb. 18) | Up 8% | Google Trends | |
Key housing-market data
| U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending Feb. 16, 2025
Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and are based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision. |
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| Four weeks ending Feb. 16, 2025 | Year-over-year change | Notes | ||
| Median sale price | $375,475 | 3.7% | Smallest increase in nearly 5 months | |
| Median asking price | $409,725 | 5.3% | ||
| Median monthly mortgage payment | $2,750 at a 6.87% mortgage rate | 5.1% | $32 shy of all-time high | |
| Pending sales | 71,454 | -6.8% | ||
| New listings | 79,969 | 4.2% | ||
| Active listings | 912,471 | 11.3% | Smallest increase in nearly a year | |
| Months of supply | 5 | +0.9 pts. to second-longest span since early 2019 (there were 5.1 months during the 4 weeks ending Jan. 26) | 4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions | |
| Share of homes off market in two weeks | 32.3% | Down from 35% | ||
| Median days on market | 57 | +7 days to longest span since March 2020 | ||
| Share of homes sold above list price | 21.2% | Down from 23% | ||
| Average sale-to-list price ratio | 98% | Down from 98.2% | ||
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Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending Feb. 16, 2025 Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy. |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Metros with biggest year-over-year increases | Metros with biggest year-over-year decreases |
Notes |
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| Median sale price | Pittsburgh (15%)
Milwaukee (14%) San Jose, CA (13.6%) Nassau County, NY (12.5%) Cincinnati, OH (10.8%) |
Austin, TX (-5.3%)
Tampa, FL (-1.2%) Jacksonville, FL (-0.6%) Dallas (-0.4%) Atlanta (-0.3%) |
Declined in 7 metros |
| Pending sales | San Francisco (17.7%)
Anaheim, CA (8.5%) Los Angeles (7.4%) Milwaukee (3.8%) Columbus, OH (3.4%) |
Miami (-22.6%)
Houston (-20.6%) Jacksonville, FL (-18.9%) San Antonio (-17.9%) Atlanta (-16.8%) |
Increased in 7 metros |
| New listings | San Jose, CA (27.4%)
Phoenix (23.7%) Los Angeles (21.9%) Denver (17.4%) Sacramento, CA (15.4%) |
Detroit (-21.2%)
Warren, MI (-10.9%) Newark, NJ (-8.5%) Jacksonville, FL (-7.2%) San Antonio (-7.2%) |
Declined in 18 metros |
Refer to our metrics definition page for explanations of all the metrics used in this report.
United States
Canada