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M R EP O RT | 43 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION in good condition are going off the market within days or even hours," Richmond Redfin agent Blake Edwards said. "Anything under $400,000 will sell within the weekend. Even the $1 million houses that are in great condition are selling within days. It really is property specific right now." The Market for Condos and Expensive Homes Lags Behind Condos and higher-priced homes are still a struggle to sell. Redfin agents report that sellers of expensive homes and condos are offering buyers incentives to close deals. "The condo market in Washington, D.C., has been hit hard," local Redfin agent Marshall Carey said. "Condo sellers are searching for ways to incentiv- ize buyers. One of my buyers recently purchased a condo, and we got the seller to give them 3% of the list price back in cash. My buyer used 2% of that to buy down their mortgage rate." "There's a ton of demand for affordable suburban homes, but the super high end isn't in de- mand," Chicago Redfin agent Dan Close said. "Property taxes are very expensive here, so buying a $2 million home isn't practical for most people." Sellers Have Been Slower to Return Than Buyers Even though homebuyer demand is improving, the main factor driving bidding wars is low inventory. Would-be sellers are more sensitive to elevated rates because 85% of mortgage holders have a rate far below today's level of roughly 6%. This "lock-in" effect and still-high rental prices are motivating many potential move- up buyers to become landlords instead of home sellers. The measure of people contact- ing Redfin agents to sell their home has improved slightly; it's up 10 percentage points from the November trough. But there hasn't yet been a significant boost in list- ings nationwide. New listings fell 18% year over year during the four weeks ending January 22. That's the smallest decrease in almost three months, but much steeper than the 8% decline a year earlier. Redfin agents have observed in their conversations with homeowners that there's fear around listing at a time when home-price growth has been shrinking and buyers are regain- ing power. "Sellers are jumping on the first viable offer because they've heard from the media, friends, and family that the housing market is slowing," Edwards said. "It all feels very urgent. We prioritize educating sellers in real-time, so they understand how the market dynamics are shifting, with more buyers now coming back." The market will likely see more sellers return as home- buyer demand increases and price growth stabilizes—especially given that there's pent-up supply from sellers who delisted their homes in the fall when the market was slowing.