Record-setting buyer demand and new house sales growth indicate strongest start to the housing market in six years, according to the online realtor.
This year is poised to be the biggest year for housing since the bust, according to recent data from Redfin.
Redfin customers requesting home tours, an early indicator of housing market performance, jumped nearly 50% from a year ago and the number of newly listed homes for sale rose to the highest level since mid-2013, setting the stage for accelerating growth in the housing market in 2015, according to a Redfin analysis that tracks thousands of homebuyers across the country.
At this time last year, lower growth in tour requests among Redfin customers was followed by negative growth in home sales for the entire U.S. housing market.
More sellers are putting properties on the market, too. The number of homes listed for sale increased 6.3% in January from a year earlier. More homes went on the market in January than any other month since August 2013. Why are new listings important? Because sellers are also people who want to buy another home.
The growing supply of homes for sale already has put the brakes on rising prices, a trend we expect to continue. Price growth has slowed every month since November, and we predict median sale prices will rise only 3.5% this month, the smallest increase since February 2012, when prices rose 2.9%.
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