Redfin shares rose after the real-estate brokerage company said sales of existing homes rose month-on-month in July, and noted falling mortgage rates dropped last month and are falling further this month, though buyers are responding slowly.
Shares of the Seattle company were recently up 19% at $8.90 and are up almost 30% over the past month, though it remains down 16% from the start of the year.
Sales of existing homes rose 0.6% in July from the month before, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4,094,991. That is still the lowest July level in records going back to 2012, Redfin said.
In a news release Monday, Redfin also said pending sales fell to the lowest of any month on record except for April 2020, when the covid pandemic froze the market.
Aside from falling mortgage rates, however, one positive for buyers is that the total supply of homes for sale rose 13.7% year-over-year in July, a record.
“Many listings on the market are getting stale as buyers grapple with high costs, which is causing supply to pile up — giving some buyers room to negotiate,” Redfin said.
The sales figures and stock-price rise come days after new rules on real-estate commissions that could upend how deals get done and pressure costs lower began rolling out, following the landmark National Association of Realtors’ settlement.