Redfin Report: San Francisco Home Prices Fell for the First Time in Four Years in March
Nationwide Prices Up 4.7% in March From Last Year; Sales Up 1%;
Inventory Down 3.2%
Redfin Home Tour Index Reached Highest Level for Third-Straight
Month
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Home prices in the San Francisco Bay Area fell by 1.8 percent year over
year in March, their first such drop in four years, according to Redfin (www.redfin.com),
the next-generation real estate brokerage.
“For years San Francisco has been one of if not the most competitive
markets in the country,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson.
“Now we are seeing this white-hot market start to cool and contract. The
share of Redfin offers facing competition dropped to 77 percent in March
from 94 percent last year. This suggests that the price drop is not
about inventory, it’s about buyers fed up with high Bay Area prices and
crazy competition.”
Could the price decline in San Francisco be a preview of what’s to come
in other overheated markets such as Seattle and Denver? Pressure has
been mounting in markets across the country with month after month of
price growth, high competition and chronically low inventory.
Nationwide, prices were up 4.7 percent year over year in March, but
sales grew only 1 percent, the smallest increase in 16 months. Despite
6.8 percent growth in new listings, overall inventory fell 3.2 percent,
an indication that inventory is not keeping up with buyer demand.
“In 2015, sales grew 7 percent nationally, but there simply aren’t
enough homes for sale to maintain such a torrid pace again this year,”
said Richardson. “No matter how high homebuyer demand is, it takes two
to tango, and many sellers are sitting this year out.”
Nationally, demand has outpaced supply since early 2015, when inventory
began to drop sharply in many metro areas and home sales rose even
faster. In hot markets like Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore.,
which saw double-digit year-over-year sales growth in 2015, sales are
now falling as a result of steep inventory declines.
Low inventory coupled with strong buyer demand continues to drive
competition. The Redfin home tour index reached its highest level for
the third month straight, and offers surged to their highest level in
almost three years. Nearly a third of new listings sold in less than two
weeks and 21.7 percent sold above the asking price.
Without a significant boost in new listings nationally, competition will
remain strong and sales may stagnate or decline in many markets as we
head into the busiest season in the real estate cycle.
To read the full report, complete with market-by-market data and charts,
please visit the following link: https://www.redfin.com/blog/2016/04/march-national-housing-market-tracker.html.
Redfin also took an in-depth look at home prices, inventory and sales
across neighborhoods for five cities: Chicago,
Los
Angeles, San
Francisco, Miami
and Washington,
D.C.
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About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com)
is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own
full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in
the customer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the
country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to
consumers, including the industry’s most accurate home-value estimate,
the Redfin
Estimate. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service,
technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while
saving thousands in commission. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro
areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $31 billion in
home sales, and saved customers more than $335 million in fees, and
counting.
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.
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Contacts
Redfin Journalist Services:
Alina Ptaszynski, 206-588-6863
press@redfin.com
