Home sellers eager to list their properties to hit the market as the spring buying season kicks off might want to hold off until June. According to Zillow, sellers last year were able to tack on an extra $7,700 to the sale price for a typical home in early June, representing a 2.3% bump compared to earlier in the year. In pre-pandemic years, early May had stood out as the best time to list, with search activity peaking by the end of the spring season.
However, low inventory and fluctuating mortgage rates have disrupted homebuyer activity in 2023. The weekly mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed loan only climbed higher through May, before a small June pullback to 6.67% offered a window for buyers. 2024 should trend similarly to last year, especially with interest rates expected to fall in June. As mortgage rates loosely follow the path of monetary policy, lower interest rates could trigger another surge of demand from buyers, Zillow said.
Housing market activity this year has remained tepid amid elevated mortgage rates, with the 30-year rate sitting at 6.88%. Aside from high borrowing costs, high prices have pushed out many buyers. In fact, earners now need to make 80% more than in pre-COVID times to comfortably afford a home.
However, February was the first in eight months that home sales increased on an annual basis, Redfin reported on Thursday. New listings climbed 13%, causing the total number of homes for sale to hit 1.7%. The month also saw the biggest price gain in a year and a half, with home prices rising 5.3% on an annualized basis. Meanwhile, the median monthly housing payment was just $23 below an all-time high this week.
