Redfin’s CEO Glenn Kelman says the housing market has hit a sudden slowdown in the past few weeks. Although the company reported second-quarter earnings that beat expectations, the third-quarter forecast has been pulled down due to an expected drop in bookings and slowing traffic within the market. Kelman said June’s decline in home sales could reappear again in August and September, pointing out specific difficulties in the west coast markets.
“For the first time in years, we are getting reports from managers of some markets that home buyer demand is waning, especially in some of Redfin’s largest markets,” Kelman said, specifically calling out Seattle, Portland and San Jose as areas where inventory was still tight but did not seem to be pushing prices higher still.
Despite the concerns, Redfin announced that it is expanding its Redfin Now service that buys and sells houses, which Goldman Sachs analysts have called a “necessary” step for the company as startups using the so-called iBuyer approach proliferate.
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