Traffic to popular real estate websites was down significantly March to April:
Zillow – down 16%
Realtor – down 13%
Redfin – down 15%This probably wouldn't seem odd if it were November or December, but we are talking peak buying season in April.
(data according to semrush)
— Matt Stevens (@realmatt_re) May 17, 2025
1) To quote the NAHB, home builders did outright price cuts on 34% of listings in May, and offered sales incentives on 61% of listings.
Those are high figures. pic.twitter.com/BjqtxblqjE
— Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) May 17, 2025
3) The periods were:
-April 2020, the initial full month of pandemic lockdowns.
-GFC crash from 2007-2012, the worst housing market downturn in US history.
-A six-month period during the Gulf War Recession in 1990-91.
Today, buyer traffic for builders is 70% lower than the… pic.twitter.com/0ruBfcLU4d
— Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) May 17, 2025
5) Which is a big problem.
Because builders have a mountain of completed, unsold homes sitting on their lots.
With spec inventory measuring nearly 120,000 units right now.
That's the highest level of unsold spec inventory since 2009.
So builders need strong demand. pic.twitter.com/SKtWtr1Osc
— Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) May 17, 2025
7) According to Realtor, active re-sale listings on the market have spiked up to 959,000 across the entire U.S. as of April 2025.
That's the highest inventory level for April going back to 2019.
Meaning that inventory is no longer "low" on the US housing market.
It's actually… pic.twitter.com/ZVzb6ypeZJ
— Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) May 17, 2025
Here comes the rug pull: pic.twitter.com/kMz65VHvRi
— QE Infinity (@StealthQE4) May 17, 2025
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Painfully high home prices and mortgage rates have scared off some potential homebuyers, according to Redfin. Despite an easing of China tariffs, mortgage rates are being pushed higher. High prices have created a lopsided housing market, with homes for sale at a five-year-high, but few buyers.
As elevated home prices and mortgage rates continue to weigh on the housing market, would-be home buyers are pulling out, according to a Redfin report.
Stubbornly high home prices are keeping monthly housing payments uncomfortably high: The median payment this week was a hefty $2,860, just $6 less than the record high set last week.
Pending home sales across the U.S. slipped 3.4% compared to this time last year during a four-week period ending May 11. That’s the lowest level on record during this timeframe, outside of 2020, according to Redfin. The median asking price rose 6.5% to $429,850 from a year ago, while the median sale price grew 1.8% to $390,998.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/doubt-hesitation-ripping-housing-market-171610766.html