- Home prices are still climbing, but not as fast.
- Monthly mortgage payments reach lowest level in five months.
- Is this "a window of opportunity" for would-be homeowners?
House prices are still hitting record highs, but the market may be looking up for homebuyers.
The median asking price for a U.S. home rose 2.2% to $403,000 in the four weeks ending on July 20, the smallest increase since August 2023, according to data from Redfin, a Seattle-based online brokerage.
At the same time, Redfin data showed the median sales price for a U.S. home during that same four-week time period reached $399,000. That’s a new record for how much money a home costs.
But even though buyers paid more, the nation’s median home price was up only 1.6% year over year. That’s compared to what was 5% to 6% growth throughout most of 2024 and the start of 2025.
“Slowing price growth is good news for homebuyers,” a Redfin post declared, citing additional favorable indicators:
- At $2,679, median monthly mortgage payments are at the lowest level in nearly five months.
- The weekly average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate “essentially remained flat,” at 6.74%, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, better known as Freddie Mac, reported Thursday, although Mortgage News Daily put the daily rate at 6.81%.
- Sellers continue to outnumber buyers, with the total number of homes listed for sale up 11%. Pending home sales are down 1.7%.
“The housing market is testing the patience of some sellers, but it’s perking up the interest of first-time homebuyers, who are finally seeing affordability improve,” Chaley McVay, a Redfin agent in Portland, Oregon, said in the post on Thursday.
McVay suggested buyers look “for homes that have been on the market for over a month without a price drop. Sellers may be willing to accept a lower offer rather than drop their price, especially if the seller is already under contract on their next home or needs to move out of town.”
Redfin economists see “a window of opportunity for buyers to jump into the market.” The online brokerage noted that while home sale prices are forecast to fall 1% year over year by the end of 2025, “buyers could lose some negotiating power as listings drop off.”
The upbeat forecast from Redfin comes as pending home sale cancellations reached a new high in June. A recent Redfin report found more than 57,000 home sale agreements nationwide fell through in June.
That represents 14.9% of the properties that went under contract that month, the highest share of failed sales since tracking began in 2017. Both the shift to a buyers market and the economic uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariff policies are seen as key factors.