National real estate broker Redfin reports that the monthly mortgage payment for an average buyer in the United States has increased by $ 50 in the past six weeks. At the same time, the median asking price of sellers rose 12% year-over-year to a new high and mortgage rates exceeded 3%.

Despite the rapid decline in affordability, many homes still sell very quickly – almost half find a buyer within 2 weeks. While homes are still selling for around 1% above the asking price on average, the share of listings with price drops is increasing, suggesting that price increases may slow slightly.

“Mortgage rates and asking prices are both on the rise, which translates into higher housing costs,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “For now, mortgage rates are still hovering around 3% and demand remains strong. However, we are likely to see rates rise during the winter months which could slow demand as has been the case. at the end of 2018. As this happens, sellers will have a harder time getting buyers to bite their outrageous asking prices. “

Highlights of the housing market for over 400 metropolitan areas in the United States:

• Asking prices for newly listed homes rose 12% from the same period a year ago to a median of $ 365,073, an all-time high. Asking prices increased throughout September, in a slight seasonal increase typical of late summer.
• Pending home sales rose 3% year-over-year, the smallest year-over-year increase since June 2020.
• New listings of homes for sale were down 8% from the previous year. New registrations have been below 2020 levels since the four-week period ending August 22.
• Active listings (the number of homes listed at any given point in the period) fell 23% from 2020.
• 46% of homes that contracted had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the rate of 42% a year earlier.
• 33% of homes that entered into a contract had an offer accepted within a week of entering the market, up from 30% in the same period a year earlier.
• Homes sold were on the market for a median of 21 days, almost a week longer than the all-time low of 15 days in late June and July, and down from 31 days a year earlier.
• 47% of homes sold above list price, up from 34% a year earlier, but the lowest share since April.
• On average, 5% of homes for sale each week saw price decline, up 1.4 percentage points from the same period in 2020, and the highest level since the four-week period ending October 13, 2019.
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how well homes are selling for their asking prices, fell to 100.9%, the first time it has been below 101% since April. In other words, the average home has sold 0.9% above its asking price.

Other leading indicators of home buying activity:

• Mortgage purchase requests were down 2% week-over-week (seasonally adjusted) in the week ending October 1.
• From Jan. 1 to Oct. 3, home visits were up 8%, up from a 27% increase over the same period last year, according to home visiting technology company ShowTime.
• The Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index rose 2 points in the week ending October 3, and was up 11% from the previous year.