More homes listed for sale as owners seek to leverage high values

More owners are listing their homes for sale as the spring buying season approaches.

New listings were up 10% for the four weeks ending Feb. 18 compared with a year earlier, marking the largest increase since December. Sellers are trying to leverage home values that have increased 6% over the past year, according to the real estate brokerage, Redfin.

Median sales prices are continuing to increase in many cities. San Diego topped Redfin’s list of cities where homes have appreciated the most (15%), followed by Newark, N.J. (14.3%); Anaheim, Calif. (13.5%), Philadelphia (12.6%) and West Palm Beach, Fla. (12.4%).

The three metropolitan areas that saw the largest year-over-year decreases were in Texas, led by San Antonio (-4.1%), Austin (-0.4%) and Fort Worth (-0.3%).

Despite the increase in listings, mortgage applications fell 10% last week compared with the week prior following an uptick in mortgage rates. The average rate is now more than 7% for the first time since December.

Pending home sales were down 7% as of Feb. 18 compared with a year earlier.

According to Redfin, potential home buyers are more interested in properties that are move-in ready than fixer-uppers requiring more investment. With fewer prospective buyers, sellers often need to offer concessions.

“I tell every one of my sellers to have an open mind and put on their buyer’s hat,” Redfin agent Shauna Pendleton said in a statement. “Nine times out of 10, buyers are asking for a concession in their initial offer right now, and usually the seller needs to accept the deal.”

The most common concessions are mortgage-rate buydowns, where sellers pay a lump sum to the lender for a temporary interest-rate reduction, and for sellers to cover the sale’s closing costs.