Home-Seller Concern About Rising Interest Rates Doubles in Latest Redfin Survey

SEATTLE, July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage (www.redfin.com), today released its latest survey of home sellers, capturing sentiment of homeowners with the intent to sell. Redfin based this analysis on responses from 1,448 homeowners across the U.S. who had used Redfin in the last three months. Data was collected from July 19 through 21.

The survey revealed a surge of concern over rising mortgage interest rates. Although 32 percent of respondents indicated they had no major concerns about selling, 47 percent cited concern that rising rates would cause a decrease in buyer demand, which is more than double the percentage from last quarter. Despite increasing concerns over interest rates, 48 percent believe now is still a good time to sell, up from 45 percent in the second quarter. Interestingly, belief that now is a good time to buy was up one percent from last quarter. Although slight, this increase in buying confidence is the first in more than a year.

"Of course home sellers are worried about interest rates, but the reality is that many buyers believe that rates will continue to go up," said Redfin Los Angeles real estate agent Eric Tan. "They know if they don't move now, they might be kicking themselves all over again in three months."

Results Snapshot:

• 47% of sellers indicate that rising interest rates will decrease demand for their home, up from 23% in the second quarter;
• 48% believe now is a good time to sell, up from 45% last quarter;
• 45% believe now is a good time to buy, up slightly from 44% in the second quarter;
• 17% of respondents believe that home prices will rise "a lot" in their area in the next 12 months, up from 15% in the second quarter;
• 85% of respondents believe that home prices will rise in their area in the next 12 months, unchanged from last quarter.

"Results from our seller survey point to growing confidence in the US economy, and recognition that broad economic gains could erode sellers' advantages in the housing market as mortgage rates rise," explained Redfin economist Ellen Haberle.

The Redfin Real-Time Home-Seller Survey is a companion to the quarterly Buyer Survey and Agent Survey.  

About the Q3 2013 Redfin Real-Time Seller Survey This quarter's seller survey took place between July 19th and 21st, 2013. We surveyed 1,448 people who had used Redfin in the last three months and who indicated that they were a homeowner. 739 of the respondents indicated an intention to sell his or her home at some point in the foreseeable future, while 656 respondents were not planning to sell. The results span 20 metropolitan markets in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Riverside / San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.

Click here to view full report, including charts and graphs. Additional data is also available by contacting [email protected].

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 21 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

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