September Home Prices Up 5 Percent in Redfin Real-Time Price Tracker

by Chicago Agent

October 12, 2012

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Home prices increased 5 percent in the Redfin Real-Time Price Tracker, a measure of home sales, inventory and prices across Redfin’s database.

By Natalie Terchek

The latest Redfin Redfin Real-Time Price Tracker reports that national home prices increased 5 percent from a year ago in September, despite their typical seasonal decline, and decreased just under 1 percent from August.

The results matched their predictions from last month.

Real-Time Price Tracker – Prices Strong, Despite Season

Redfin says these are the key metrics across 19 major metropolitan markets:

Home prices in September increased 5.4 percent year-over-year, and went down 0.8 percent month-over-month.
Home sales increased 4 percent from last year, and fell 17 percent since August–a typical seasonal decline.
The percentage of listings that sold within 14 days of their debut held steady in September at 27 percent.

Redfin noted that, in order for prices to reach their normal pre-crash peak, home price gains would have to continue at this rate through 2018.

Inventory Decreases 29 percent, but Listings Still Sell Fast

Redfin also tracked housing inventory levels with the Real-Time Price Tracker, and it found housing inventory continuing to fall, declining 4 percent on the month for a total of 29 percent from the previous year. With such a low inventory, homebuyers who find the right house are quickly making offers, with more than a quarter of new listings still going under contract within two weeks of hitting the market. Redfin stated that year-over-year declines in inventory grew worse in September, moving from a 27.2 percent drop in August to the 29.3 percent drop in September.

They also stated that 27.1 percent of new listings were under contract in two weeks or less for the month of September through the 24th.

Glenn Kelman, the CEO of Redfin, said that the Real-Time Price Tracker largely defied typical seasonal trends for real estate.

“September is usually the month that real estate goes on sale, like Christmas toys in January,” Kelman said. “Whatever didn’t sell in the summer gets marked down for a September closing. This September, we saw only a modest decline in prices, with inventory still dropping and demand fairly steady.”