WRE NEWS
Only one-quarter of homes sold in September (25.3%) went for more than their final list price, according to data from Redfin. That share is down from 28.5% one year earlier and marked the lowest September level in six years.
September’s average sale-to-list-price ratio of 98.6% was down from 99.1% from one year ago. That means the typical home sold for 1.4% less than its final list price, compared with 0.9% less last September.
Nearly one-third (32.8%) of homes that went under contract last month did so within two weeks of being listed, down from 34.9% in September 2024.
Redfin warned the housing market was moving at the slowest pace for this time of year in nearly a decade, with the typical home sitting on the market for 50 days before selling—the slowest September pace since 2016.
The housing market is sluggish because high costs and economic uncertainty are limiting the number of people buying homes. Inventory has also ticked up, meaning the buyers who are in the market have more options and many of them can afford to take their time. There are 36.7% more home sellers in the market than buyers—a near-record gap. The good news for buyers is this means they often have an opportunity to negotiate and ask for concessions.
Complicating matters were home prices and available inventory. The median home sale price rose 1.7% year over year to $435,545 in September—the biggest uptick in six months and the highest September level on record. At the same time, Active listings fell 0.6% month over month to 1.96 million in September on a seasonally adjusted basis—the lowest level since February, although the level was also up 8% year-over-year.
Roze Swartz, a Redfin Premier agent in Houston, observed, “Sellers can’t be picky on price—if they don’t have the lowest price on the market, they’re not even going to get showings. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s better to price low from the start than price high and make a drastic cut after your home has been sitting on the market for months without any offers.”