Percentage of US homes under contract within 14 days of listing in September rises slightly to 26.6% from 26% in August; market speed expected to fall in October, driven by buyer uncertainty over government shutdown, debt ceiling battle: Redfin
Allison Oesterle
SEATTLE
,
October 24, 2013
(press release)
–
Sales within Two Weeks Dropped from 33.4 Percent in April to 26 Percent in August; then Late-September Mortgage Interest Rate Decrease Caused Buyers to Pick up the Pace
Redfin (www.redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage, today issued its Fastest Markets Report for September 2013. For the first time in five months, home-selling speed did not decline. Across 23 metro areas, 26.6 percent of homes went under contract within two weeks, a slight boost from 26 percent in August.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131024/SF03548)
As predicted by Redfin last month, lower mortgage rates following the Federal Reserve's decision to leave its stimulus program unchanged created a renewed sense of urgency among rate-sensitive homebuyers during the second half of September. Following the announcement, Redfin agents reported that home-selling speeds picked up, at least temporarily.
"In late September, homes were going under contract within hours," explained KC Brants, a Redfin real estate agent in Seattle. "To handle the surge in demand, some sellers implemented offer review deadlines--a tactic I hadn't seen since early summer."
Overall Fastest/Slowest:
Notable Speed Changes:
"Despite sustained lower mortgage rates," said Ellen Haberle, Redfin economist, "market speed probably will fall again in October because of buyer uncertainty related to the government shutdown and debt ceiling battle."
To read the full report, complete with a speed ranking of 23 real estate markets, click the following link.http://www.redfin.com/research/reports/real-time-fastest-markets.
About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate broker that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded and run by technologists, Redfin has a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not sales-people, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions. Redfin online tools feature all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don't pay brokers a commission. The company serves 22 U.S. markets and has closed more than $8 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider. Follow us on our blog (blog.redfin.com), Facebook (facebook.com/redfin), Google+ (plus.google.com/+Redfin), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/Redfin), and Twitter (@redfin).
SOURCE Redfin
RELATED LINKS
http://www.redfin.com
* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.