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The pandemic and work-from-home orders have changed where, when and why people buy homes. As a result, housing prices hit the highest median of all time in 2021, as the number of homes for sale fell to an all-time low and the demand for second homes surged, according to a new Redfin report.
“The ongoing pandemic, including its seismic effect on the U.S. economy and the way Americans live and work, has made 2021’s housing market anything but typical,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for Redfin. “Remote work, low mortgage rates, a shortage of building materials and wealth inequality that has allowed an influx of affluent Americans to buy vacation homes, to name just a few factors, have come together to create a historic year for real estate. Buyers paid more for homes, bought sooner than they planned and searched outside their hometowns. This year’s frenzied housing market has been one for the books — but it may become more balanced in 2022.”
Redfin compiled a list of 10 housing records set in the past year:
The national median price for homes hit $386,000 in June, up 24.4% from last year. According to the report, the average sale price may hit another all-time high before the end of the year.
There were 1.38 billion homes for sale in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, down 23% year over year.
An average of 15 days on the market is the lowest in history, down 39 days from June 2020.
An average of 61.4% of homes that went under contract in March had an accepted offer within two weeks of hitting the market, an all-time high.
Of homes sold in June, 56.5% sold for above listing price, a record high and up 29.6% from a year earlier.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 2.65% the week ended Jan. 7, the lowest of all time.
Real estate investors bought 18.2% of homes purchased in the country during the third quarter of 2021, up 11.2% from a year earlier.
Second-home demand increased 91% from pre-pandemic levels in January, marking…