For the first time since early March, no new records were set for median-home-sale prices last month, according to a new Redfin Report. Additionally, the trends for home prices, new listings and sales are starting to look more like patterns the company typically expects this time of year, good news following the unpredictability and ferocious demand seen over the past 12 months. 

The median home-sale price fell 0.2% to $362,750 from the four-weeks ended July 25 and up 18% year over year, ending the five-month record-setting home-price streak. 

Newly listed home asking prices were up 12% from last year to $358,475 but down 1% from the all-time high during the four weeks ended June 27. Additionally, more than half of all home sales (54.1%) sold above their asking prices. 

Pending home sales were up 3%, the smallest year-over-year increase since the four-week period ended June 28, down 3% from the four weeks ended July 25 and down 12% from the 2021 peak during the four-weeks ended May 30.   

Inventory is showing signs of leveling off, as new listings dropped 0.2% from last year, the first decrease since March, according to the report. Newly listed homes increased 1.9% during the four-weeks ended Aug. 1, compared to the four-weeks ended July 25.

Mortgage rates also declined to below 2.8%, which are levels not seen since winter. If these trends continue, homebuying conditions should improve, the report states. During the week ended July 30, mortgage applications fell 1.7% week over week to their lowest level since May 2020. Thirty-year mortgage rates fell to 2.77% for the week ended Aug. 5, the lowest since mid-February, according to the report. 

“Although homes are much pricier than they were before the pandemic, homebuyers now have the benefit of very low mortgage rates and a little less competition than they faced earlier in the summer,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said. “This week, a young first-time buyer with an FHA loan had her offer accepted on a home near Myrtle Beach, S.C., after losing out in five bidding wars. I am hopeful that more opportunities like this will arise in the coming weeks if things continue to stabilize.”

The report also found:

• Active listings fell 26% from last year, the smallest decline since the four-weeks ended Dec. 27.
• Almost half of all pending sales (49.7%) went under contract within two weeks of listing, and 36% of pending sales went under contract within a week.  
• The four-week rolling average of median days on market was 16 days.