Even as mortgage rates come off of recent highs, buyer demand remains constrained. And that’s affecting home-list prices, according to a new report.
The report by Redfin RDFN, +7.47%, which tracked home-sale prices for the four weeks ending Jan. 15, found that the median price of a house in the U.S. rose 0.9% from a year ago, to $350,250.
While home prices on a national level hold steady, some parts of the country are seeing weakness.
Prices of homes for sale fell year-over-year in 18 of the largest 50 cities in the U.S., leading with San Francisco.
In San Francisco, prices fell 10.1% year-over-year, Redfin said.
That’s followed by San Jose, where home sale prices fell by 6.7%. Austin saw home sale prices drop by 5.5%, and Detroit by 4.3%.
Phoenix, a pandemic boomtown, saw home sale prices fall by 3.7%.
A drop in mortgage rates has prompted some buyers to rush in to the market. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 6.15%, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.
Mortgage demand has surged 28%.
But mortgage payments are still expensive compared to where rates were a year ago. The monthly payment for a median priced home is $2,262, Redfin said. Payments are up 30% from a year ago.
Got thoughts on the housing market? Write to MarketWatch reporter Aarthi Swaminathan ataarthi@marketwatch.com