SEATTLE, Feb. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- (NASDAQ: RDFN) — The median home sale price increased 15% year over year to $318,750, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Below are other key housing market takeaways for more than 400 U.S. metro areas during the 4-week period ending February 7.

• Asking prices of newly listed homes hit a new all-time high of $334,770, up 10% from the same time a year ago. In a typical year, asking prices do not surpass the previous year's peak until March.
• Pending home sales were up 29% year over year.
• New listings of homes for sale were down 11% from a year earlier.
• Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 37% from 2020 to a new all-time low.
• 52% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, well above the 43% rate during the same period a year ago. This is the first time the four-week average has surpassed 50% since at least 2012 (as far back as Redfin's data for this measure goes). During the week ending February 7, the rate was 57%.
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, increased slightly to 99.3%—1.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
• For the week ending February 7, the seasonally adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index—a measure of requests for home tours and other services from Redfin agents—was up 63% from the same period a year ago.
• Mortgage purchase applications decreased 5% week over week (seasonally adjusted) and were up 17% from a year earlier (unadjusted) during the week ending February 5. For the week ending February 4, 30-year mortgage rates were unchanged at 2.73%.

"There is a serious lack of new listings, and although prices are through the roof, homeowners are reluctant to sell, because it's so hard to buy again unless you are moving to a less expensive area where you can afford to outbid other buyers," said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. "Sellers who are concerned about finding their next home are asking buyers for a rent-back agreement, which allows the seller to stay in the home until they can move into their next one. Offering a rent-back agreement can also be a winning strategy for buyers with flexible timelines."

To view the full report, including charts and methodology, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-over-half-of-homes-sold-in-2-weeks/

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered residential real estate company, redefining real estate in the consumer's favor in a commission-driven industry. We do this by integrating every step of the home buying and selling process and pairing our own agents with our own technology, creating a service that is faster, better and costs less. We offer brokerage, iBuying, mortgage, and title services, and we are the #1 nationwide brokerage website, offering a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate. We represent people buying and selling homes in over 90 markets in the United States and Canada. Since our launch in 2006, we have saved our customers over $800 million and we've helped them buy or sell more than 235,000 homes worth more than $115 billion.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

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SOURCE Redfin