More homes are hitting the market, but fewer buyers are purchasing them, giving house hunters an opportunity to negotiate prices and ask for concessions.
New listings rose 0.4% from a week earlier during the four weeks ending August 23 to their highest level since April. The total number of homes for sale rose 0.5% week over week, hitting their highest level since May.
Pending home sales, meanwhile, fell 1.1% from a week earlier to their lowest level in six months. Would-be buyers are sitting on the sidelines largely because housing costs are high: The median U.S. home-sale price rose 1.9% year over year to over $400,000, and the weekly average mortgage rate is 6.65%–down from a peak of 6.69% two weeks earlier, but still near the highest level in 13 months. Some house hunters are also holding off due to economic uncertainty, with some waiting to see if mortgage rates come down in the next few months.