We saw a slight decrease in the number of sales on a year-over-year basis in February, with there being 4,260,000 sales in February 2025, compared to 4,380,000 in February 2024. However, on the flip side, we saw considerably more inventory added this year, with 1,240,000 homes on the market in February of this year, compared to 1,060,000 homes on the market around this time last year.
This means that all over the country, buyers have many more options than in recent years, which may lead to listings sitting on the market for longer than we’ve seen over the past couple of years. When you couple this with the fact that there are more new listings being added to the market, with just over 10% more listings added in March of 2025, compared to March of 2024, we are seeing the power moving from sellers to buyers.
Additionally, this uptick in new listings might be an indication that sellers are starting to accept that considerably lower mortgage rates aren’t coming anytime soon. Although many were holding out hope over the course of the past couple of years, the Fed has made it very clear that they’re not looking to drop rates by a considerable margin anytime soon. This, of course, means that prospective sellers have an important choice to make - whether they should sell, or continue holding out. From the data that we’re seeing, it seems that many sellers are beginning to choose to sell.
When turning to affordability, we saw a rather interesting phenomenon - median monthly principal & interest payments decreased by nearly 5%, while interest rates and median sale prices increased by nearly 4%. This likely means that there was a considerable cohort of homeowners out there that locked in rates toward the end of 2023 when rates were at a local high, and recently refinanced when rates came down a bit. The median consumer having an additional $100 in their pocket each and every month is a great thing for the economy, especially when we face economic uncertainty, tariffs, and ever-changing geopolitics!
Throughout 2025, we’ve seen a ton of inventory added to the market, and that trend certainly continued throughout March, as 2,046 new single-family homes hit the market and the number of active listings is up by 47.79% when compared to March 2024! This represents a 16.78% increase over last March, and median sale prices dipped by 4.41% and 7.44% in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, respectively. This was largely due to the fact that we’ve seen a huge influx of inventory over the past couple of months. Unfortunately, there simply isn’t enough demand for all of the new supply hitting the market, which is causing prices to decrease. We are experiencing a similar market to those across the nation.
As always, Arrive Real Estate Group remains committed to helping our clients achieve their current and future real estate goals. Our team of experienced professionals are happy to discuss the information we’ve shared in this newsletter. We welcome you to contact us with any questions about the current market or to request an evaluation of your home.
