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More People Are House Hunting and Applying For Mortgages as Rates Decline

News provided by business wire2025-03-13

More People Are House Hunting and Applying For Mortgages as Rates Decline

Redfin reports prospective homebuyers are hitting the pavement as rates drop to their lowest level since mid-December. But that hasn’t yet translated to sales.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ: RDFN) — More house hunters are touring homes and applying for mortgages as weekly average mortgage rates dip to their lowest level since mid-December. That’s according to a new r epo r t from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Mortgage-purchase applications rose 7% this week, and Google searches of “homes for sale” are up 10% month over month. Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index–a seasonally adjusted measure of home tours and other buying services from Redfin agents–hit its highest level since the start of the year.

The uptick in house hunting hasn’t yet translated to an uptick in home sales. Pending home sales fell 6.1% year over year during the four weeks ending March 9, on par with declines over the last few months.

“Mortgage rates are coming down because the country’s economic outlook is getting stormier as investors worry about things like tariffs and a slightly weaker-than-expected job market,” said Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao. “Lower mortgage rates have brought some house hunters who were waiting for costs to come down off the sidelines. But they haven’t yet led to more sales because prospective buyers are still figuring out whether lower payments are enough to justify a home purchase in today’s uncertain economy. Many Americans are concerned about things like job security and a potential recession.”

On the selling side, new listings of homes for sale are up 3.1% year over year, similar to the upticks seen over the last month. Redfin expects listings to continue ticking up as spring homebuying season begins, and homeowners notice increasing demand from buyers.

Indicators of homebuying demand and activity
	Value (if applicable)	Recent change	Year-over-year change	Source
Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	6.82% (March 12)	Up from 6.7% a week earlier, but still near lowest level since December	Down from 6.87%	Mortgage News Daily
Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	6.63% (week ending March 6)	Lowest level since mid-December	Down from 6.88%	Freddie Mac
Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted)		Up 7% from a week earlier (as of week ending March 7)	Up 4%	Mortgage Bankers Association
Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted)		Highest level since start of 2025 (as of week ending March 9)	Up 5%	Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents
Touring activity		Up 32% from the start of the year (as of March 10)	At this time last year, it was up 29% from the start of 2024	ShowingTime, a home touring technology company
Google searches for “home for sale”		Up 10% from a month earlier (as of March 10)	Unchanged	Google Trends

U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending March 9, 2025 Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and are based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision.
	Four weeks ending March 9, 2025	Year-over-year change	Notes
Median sale price	$381,975	3.2%
Median asking price	$421,225	6.1%
Median monthly mortgage payment	$2,773 at a 6.63% mortgage rate	5.2%
Pending sales	77,182	-6.1%
New listings	88,739	3.1%
Active listings	925,690	9.3%	Smallest increase in over a year
Months of supply	4.1 (lowest level of the year)	+0.6 pts.	4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions
Share of homes off market in two weeks	34.6%	Down from 39%
Median days on market	52	+7 days
Share of homes sold above list price	22.9%	Down from 25%
Average sale-to-list price ratio	98.3%	Down from 98.6%

Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending March 9, 2025 Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.
	Metros with biggest year-over-year increases	Metros with biggest year-over-year decreases	Notes
Median sale price	Milwaukee (15.7%) Cleveland (13%) Anaheim, CA (11.7%) Nassau County, NY (11.5%) San Jose, CA (10.3%)	Austin, TX (-3.9%) Jacksonville, FL (-2.6%) Tampa, FL (-2%) Atlanta (-1%) San Antonio (-0.8%)	Declined in 5 metros
Pending sales	Los Angeles (3.3%) Anaheim, CA (3.1%) Columbus, OH (1.9%) Sacramento, CA (1%)	Fort Lauderdale, FL (-16.6%) Warren, MI (-16.1%) Houston (-15.6%) Atlanta (-14.8%) Detroit (-14.7%)	Increased in 4 metros
New listings	San Jose, CA (35.7%) Sacramento, CA (27.3%) Oakland, CA (25/2%) Phoenix (24%) Los Angeles (17.7%)	Detroit (-18.3%) Warren, MI (-13.1%) Austin, TX (-9.9%) Fort Worth, TX (-7.1%) Milwaukee (-6.6%)	Increased in roughly half the metros

To view the full report, including charts, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-more-house-hunting-rates-fall

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, and title insurance services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.8 billion in commissions. We serve approximately 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.