Home Listings Grow for the First Time in Two Months

New home listings grew for the first time in two months in January. According to recent data from real estate marketing platform Redfin, new for-sale inventory grew by 1% year-over-year during the four weeks ending Jan. 25.

Why are home listings finally growing?

Lower housing costs are bringing buyers back to the market, and in turn, homeowners are placing more homes up for sale. As of the week ending Jan. 25, the weekly average mortgage rate is 6.09%, up slightly from the previous week but still near the lowest level in three years. At the same time, the median monthly housing payment was down 6.6% from the same time one year ago.

As costs improve for buyers, pending-home sales are also growing. Pending-home sales still fell by 1.6% year-over-year in the week ending Jan. 25, but it was the smallest decline recorded in nearly two months, and mortgage-purchase applications are sitting near their highest level in three years, according to the report.

Yet, homes are taking longer to sell

While listings have increased, homes are taking longer to sell. The typical home that sold in January took 63 days to go under contract, which is a week longer than the same time last year and the longest span in six years.