Following a painful year for the housing market that saw mortgage rates shoot up to just over 8% after years of historically low rates.
The median mortgage payment was $2,361 during the four weeks ending Dec. 31, 2023—down $372, or 14%, from October’s all-time high, Redfin data journalist Dana Anderson wrote. She cited a change in the weekly average mortgage rate, which fell to 6.61% at the end of December from a 23-year high of 7.79% in late October.
Homebuyer demand index ticks up
Redfin’s homebuyer demand index, which measures requests for home tours and other services, is also up 10% from the previous month, its highest level since August, Anderson wrote. Additionally, while pending home sales are down over 3% year over year, it’s the smallest decline in two years, according to Redfin.
But it’s not all good news. In the four weeks ending Dec. 31, 2023, the median home sale price was $363,371, a 4.4% increase from the previous year. That is also the biggest increase since October 2022, according to Redfin. The median asking price has also increased 4.3% year over year to $359,236.
And while monthly mortgage payments have fallen to their lowest level in nearly a year, they’re still up more than 5% from a year earlier.
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