Zillow September Report: Newly Pending Sales Fall 8.5% as Housing Market Sees an Early Winter
SEATTLE, Oct. 6 — Sky-high mortgage rates and the usual fall slowdown teamed up to chill housing activity, according to Zillow's September Market Report released Oct. 6. Closed sales of existing homes fell 2.5% from a year earlier on Zillow's preliminary nowcast, while newly pending sales, a leading indicator of future closings, fell 8.5% year over year. Zillow described an 'early winter' for the housing market.
Home values remain little changed, up just 1% over the past year on the Zillow Home Value Index. But higher rates have pushed the typical mortgage payment 6.7% above a year ago, assuming 20% down and excluding taxes and insurance. Mortgage rates ended September at 7.28%, the highest since November 2023 on Freddie Mac's measure. New listings were 0.4% above last September yet 11.9% below the pre-pandemic baseline, and total for-sale inventory was 2.5% higher than a year ago, a 34th consecutive month of annual gains.
The rental market moved the other way: the typical U.S. rent rose 2.7% year over year to $1,932 on the Zillow Observed Rent Index, the biggest annual gain since April 2025, with rent growth accelerating every month since April for both multifamily and single-family homes. Zillow says the for-sale market's retreat is translating into rising rental costs.
A note on sources: Zillow's closing and pending figures are its own preliminary nowcasts, published on a different schedule from the National Association of Realtors' existing-home sales report and subject to revision. When the two series point the same way, confidence rises; NAR's September figures, due later in October, will let readers cross-check the size of the declines reported here.
Source: Zillow September Market Report, Oct. 6, via PR Newswire.
Photo: Aerial — Daquella manera / CC0 (via Openverse)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Aerial — Daquella manera / CC0 (via Openverse)
