Redfin: Home Tours Rise Modestly to Start 2025
Home tours rose 2% to start 2025, showing renewed buyer interest. Sales are slower nationally as mortgage rates remain high.
SEATTLE — More house hunters are starting their home search as the new year kicks off, according to a new report from the real estate brokerage Redfin. Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index — a seasonally adjusted measure of tours and other buying services from Redfin agents — posted a small 2% increase from a month earlier during the week ending January 5, and it’s also up 2% year over year.
There are several reasons a few more buyers are out there: Some have accepted high mortgage rates — daily average rates hit a seven-month high this week and they’re unlikely to decline significantly soon. Some are jumping into the market now that the holidays have passed and a new year has begun, and some are taking advantage of the fact that there are more homes on the market than there have been over the last few years.
“Three of the four offers my clients have made in the last week have competed against other offers with competitive terms, like waiving all contingencies and releasing earnest money early. Some homes are getting multiple offers within 24 hours of hitting the market,” said Emily Lam, a Redfin Premier agent in the Seattle area. “Some buyers are getting serious about their search because they’ve come to terms with 7% rates and they’re worried that if they wait longer, home prices will just keep rising. Others are starting their search in hopes that rates will decline soon. Either way, I’m advising buyers to get serious now because desirable listings will get more competitive as the year goes on.”
Nationwide, the small increase in tours hasn’t yet translated to an uptick in sales. Pending home sales fell 3.1% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending January 5, though that decline may be artificially large because Redfin is comparing it to a period last year when mortgage rates posted a big drop, bringing a surge in demand.
On the selling side, new listings are down 2.5%, the biggest decline in over a year. But for the reason noted above, that drop may appear larger than it actually is.
Source: Redfin
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