Redfin Reports Pending Home Sales Held Steady in Final Run-Up to Election Despite 7% Mortgage Rates

While home sales remained mostly resilient to election jitters and rising rates, Redfin agents report that some house hunters were waiting to hit the pavement until they knew more about the direction of the country and economy

(NASDAQ: RDFN) — Pending U.S. home sales rose 4.3% year over year during the four weeks ending November 3, in line with the increases Redfin has seen over the last six weeks. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

The fact that pending sales held up in the final run-up to Tuesday’s presidential election is somewhat surprising, especially considering that this year’s election season was highly uncertain and anxiety-inducing. Redfin economists say they would also expect high mortgage rates to deter buyers more than they have; mortgage rates have jumped to 7% over the last few weeks, pushing the typical monthly mortgage payment up near its highest level since July. The results of the election are likely to push rates even higher for the foreseeable future; daily average mortgage rates already increased from 7.05% to 7.13% on Wednesday. It’s worth noting one reason pending sales are up is that we’re comparing to a period last year when near-8% mortgage rates drove down sales.

But there are signs that house hunters at earlier phases of the homebuying process pressed pause as the presidential campaigns drew to a close and rates rose. Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index–a measure of tours and other buying services from Redfin agents–is at its lowest level since mid-September, and mortgage-purchase applications are down 5% week over week. Redfin agents in places like Philadelphia, Phoenix, Atlanta and Charlotte, are reporting that a fair amount of prospective buyers sat on the sidelines over the last few weeks.

“Buyers have been jittery the last few weeks because of the election. Most of the buyers I’m meeting are looking at a house or two, then telling me they’ll be back in the new year,” said Corey Stambaugh, a Redfin Premier agent in Charlotte. “Some buyers are also bummed out by high mortgage rates, but they tend to understand that rates will change in the future and they’ll probably be able to refinance. Plus, most buyers are used to rates in the 6% to 7% range, and they’ve adjusted their budgets and expectations accordingly.”

On the selling side, new listings rose just 0.3% year over year, the smallest increase in a year. New listings stumbled partly because some sellers were waiting until after Tuesday’s presidential election to list their home.

For Redfin economists’ takes on the housing market, please visit Redfin’s “From Our Economists” page.

Key housing-market data

To view the full report, including charts, please visit:

https://www.redfin.com/news/pending-home-sales-rise-election

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can have our renovations crew fix it up to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

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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