In the last days of 2023, the U.S. housing market demonstrated a surprising resilience, with pending home sales recording a mere 4% year-over-year drop during the four weeks ending December 24, according to real estate brokerage Redfin. This represents the smallest decline since March 2022, hinting at a potential softening in the recent housing market slowdown.
While the daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 6.61% on December 27—up slightly from 6.50%—it was the lowest level seen since May. The weekly average for the same period also nudged upwards, reaching 6.67% from 6.27%, marking the lowest level since June. Mortgage purchase applications dipped by a marginal 1% from the previous week but were up 7% from a month earlier.
Interestingly, the Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, which measures requests for tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents, climbed by 6% over the past month. Google searches for “homes for sale” also surged by 8% during the same period.
The median sale price for the four weeks ending December 24 was $364,250, a 4.5% increase from the previous year and the most significant rise since October 2022. The median asking price saw a similar uptick, rising to $363,484—an increase of 5.1%.
New listings witnessed a substantial surge, increasing by 12.2%—the highest growth since June 2021. Active listings declined by only 3.8%, the smallest dip since June, while the share of homes sold above list price rose to 25% from 23%.
Despite these overall positive trends, regional variations were evident. For instance, median sale prices soared in Anaheim, CA (18.2%), Newark, NJ (17%), and Fort Lauderdale, FL (13.6%), but dipped in Austin, TX (-4%), Fort Worth, TX (-2.2%), and San Francisco (-1.1%). Similarly, pending sales increased in Dallas (8.5%), Milwaukee (8.4%), and Austin (5.1%), while dropping in Providence, RI (-15.2%), Virginia Beach, VA (-10.6%), and Jacksonville, FL (-10.2%).
These figures suggest that while the U.S. housing market faced some headwinds in 2023, it closed out the year on a relatively high note. The modest dip in pending sales coupled with rising homebuyer demand and new listings indicates a balanced market, offering both homebuyers and sellers reason for cautious optimism as they look ahead to 2024.
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