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In this exclusive series on Inman, Windermere’s Principal Economist Jeff Tucker illuminates the latest stats, reports and numbers to know this week.
The data coming in from the housing market so far this year are painting a picture of an early spring buying season that is a little friendlier for buyers.
Number to know: 28%
That’s how many more active listings there were this February compared to February 2024. This chart of the year-over-year change really shows how that growth had been slowing late last year but is picking up again so far in 2025. That’s mainly because buyers have taken their foot off the gas in the face of higher mortgage rates in the new year.
Here’s how that inventory trend shapes up against the past several years. We are now only 9 percent below February 2020 levels, before the pandemic helped trigger a multiyear inventory shortage. So, for the buyers who are shopping this spring, they’ll see the most options they’ve seen in five years. That should keep a lid on home price appreciation this spring and force sellers to be a bit more conservative on their asking prices.
Pending sales are up only 1 percent from the same time last year, confirming that the late-2024 surge of buyer demand is over. For buyers homeshopping right now, that should mean less competition from other buyers to worry about.
The next number to know this week: 2.8%
That’s the inflation rate in February, as measured by the year-over-year change in the Consumer Price Index. That’s a welcome cooldown from 3.0 percent in January, and you can also see the annualized pace of monthly gains, in red here, cooled way down to 2.6 percent.
This is a step in the right direction, but there’s growing uncertainty about whether the disinflation in the price of goods will continue, especially as tariffs begin to kick in. That’s one reason the Federal Reserve is still holding steady on any further rate cuts for now.
The last number to know: about 6.75%
That’s where 30-year mortgage rates have hovered as of mid-March, which is about a quarter point below their recent peak at the start of the year. Combined with more inventory, that makes a recipe for pretty good shopping conditions for buyers as we enter the heart of the spring homebuying season.
Jeff Tucker is the Principal Economist for Windermere Real Estate in Seattle, Washington. Connect with him on X or Facebook.
