Redfin Real-Time Home Price Tracker Shows 3% Home Price Increase; 25.3% Inventory Decline Across 19 Major Markets in June 2012

SEATTLE, July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology-powered real estate broker Redfin today released its Real-Time Home Price Tracker for June 2012, showing an annual price gain of 3.0% and a monthly gain of 2.6% across 19 major U.S. markets. Inventory levels declined 25.3% compared to June 2011 and fell 2.4% from May 2012. Sales volumes rose 7.4% from the same time last year, but fell 1.1% from the previous month.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120712/SF39527)

It is also the only report of its kind to combine real estate brokerage listing data with public record data, ensuring that its information is accurate, up-to-date and accounts for homes not sold by a real estate agent.

The June 2012 Real-Time Home Price Tracker is Redfin's monthly analysis of home prices, sales volumes and inventory levels across the 19 major markets Redfin serves nationwide. Together with Redfin's Real-Time Report series, which found both an increase in home-buyer demand and a new majority of buyers who expect prices to rise this year, today's pricing report describes a strengthening market.

"Prices in June rose year over year for the second straight month, but the true test lies ahead," said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. "For the first time in five years, we're seeing sellers enter the market to take advantage of rising demand, not just out of sheer necessity. We thus expect listing prices to increase, even as employment remains weak and Europe's debt crisis continues. In competitive markets like the San Francisco Bay Area, buyers will likely rise to the bait. Elsewhere the market may falter."

Prices Up 3.0% Year Over Year; Phoenix and Denver Had Strongest Gains
Across the 19 markets Redfin serves, 16 showed annual price increases. Prices increased the most in Phoenix at 28.7% and in Denver at 9.3%. In Long Island, NY prices fell the most, at 4.4%.

Inventory Down 25.3% Year Over Year Nationwide, Down 50% or More in California's Major Cities
The primary reason prices are increasing is falling inventory. In 16 of the 19 markets measured, the number of houses for sale declined since June 2011; in 15 of 19, the decline was by 20% or more.

One in Four Listings Is Under Contract in Less than 14 Days
Those home-owners who do decide to list their home often sell very quickly, getting a buyer under contract within 14 days of the listing's debut. This happened to 28.5% of all single-family houses that debuted in the first three weeks of June. The San Jose market saw more than half of its homes sell that quickly.

Sales Volume Up 4.3% Over Last Year, But Down 1.1% Since May
Sales may happen quickly, but the number of closings has grown only modestly since last year. Lack of inventory has also limited sales volume. Closings of single-family homes are up 4.3% since last year but down since May 1.1%. Some of the biggest recent drops in sales volume are in the places where inventory is in shortest supply: Sacramento, San Jose, Southern California's Inland Empire and Denver.

The complete Real-Time Home Price Tracker is available at:
http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2012/07/redfin_real-time_home_price_tracker_june_prices_increased_30_but_sales_slowing.html.

About the Real-Time Home Price Tracker
Redfin's monthly report on home prices, inventory levels and sales volume is an up-to-date, accurate portrait of the U.S. real estate market, coming weeks or months ahead of other market reports. As a broker with access to dozens of Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) used by real estate agents to list properties and record sales, Redfin gets data within minutes of a sale, pending sale or listing activation, well before any government, media or analytics organization. Using MLS fields, Redfin is able to distinguish houses from condominiums and townhouses — which often sell for less money. To validate the accuracy of the data and to account for sales not handled by a real estate agent, Redfin compares MLS data with county records as they become available, using sophisticated algorithms to identify and resolve disparities about square footage or price for each address. Data at the local and neighborhood level are available in a spreadsheet, and the report methodology is available as an Adobe document.

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 is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company serves 19 U.S. markets, and has closed more than $5 billion in home sales. Follow us on blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.

SOURCE Redfin