Homebuyer Demand Cools in July, with Tours Down 3.5%, Offers Down 11% in Latest Redfin Report

SEATTLE, Aug. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Redfin (www.redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage, today issued its Real-Time Demand Pulse, the only report in the industry that analyzes housing market demand through home tour and offer data. Since peaking in April, Redfin customers touring homes and making offers has been on a steady decline, further indication that the overall housing market is cooling. The report showed:

• July tours were down 3.5% from June. During the same time period in 2012, tours were up 3.1%.
• Offers this July were also down, falling 11% from June. Offers were flat during the same time period in 2012.

Although the number of homes for sale continued to rise in July, buyers did not respond. Likely factors include rising interest rates and home prices, which are pricing some buyers out of the market. Other Redfin data shows that homebuyer fatigue after months of intense competition over historically low inventory also played a role.

Last year, home tours were flat for much of the year, but offers were up 5.5 percent in September. Given the downward trend in tours and offers in July, it is difficult to believe that demand will increase this fall, as in 2012. Redfin will continue to track home prices, inventory, market competition and consumer sentiment to anticipate demand.

To access the full report on Redfin's blog, click or paste the following link.http://www.redfin.com/research/reports/real-time-demand-pulse

About this Report
The Redfin Real-Time Demand Pulse is a monthly analysis of thousands of customers touring homes and signing offers in twenty markets across the United States. Redfin is the only major real estate broker storing data in one location about its agent tours and offers, enabling the company to project sales volume for the U.S. without waiting 30 – 45 days for sales to close, or an additional 15 – 30 days for them to be recorded as public record.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate broker that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded and run by technologists, Redfin has a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not sales-people, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions. Redfin's online tools feature all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don't pay brokers a commission. The company serves 22 U.S. markets and has closed more than $8 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider. Follow us on our blog (blog.redfin.com), Twitter (@redfin), and Facebook (facebook.com/redfin), Redfin Collections (www.redfin.com/collections), and on our mobile apps (www.redfin.com/mobile).

SOURCE Redfin