The supply of homes for prospective buyers in the US rose amid an increase in new listings and weakness in pending sales, a Redfin (RDFN) report showed Thursday.

New listings in the four weeks through Feb. 2 jumped 7.9% year over year to 76,194, the largest gain since the end of last year, according to the real estate brokerage. Pending sales dropped 8.1% to 65,603.

The report showed five months of supply on the market during the period. That was up from 4.4 months a year earlier and the most in six years, with the exception of the previous four-week period, Redfin said. The brokerage defines months of supply as time expected to be taken for the existing supply of homes to be bought up at the current pace of the market.

The growing housing supply has led to the typical home selling for 2% under asking price. Redfin said that while this represents the biggest discount in two years, housing costs remain "ultra-high," potentially one of the reasons why prospective buyers are on the sidelines. The brokerage said extreme cold weather kept house hunters at home in January.

"Listings are picking up as we inch toward spring," Redfin premier agent Joe Paolazzi said. "Homeowners have been holding off, waiting for mortgage rates to go down or market conditions to improve, and now it seems clear rates have declined about as much as they're going to decline for now."

On Wednesday, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $766,550 or less decreased to 6.97% in the week ended Jan. 31, the lowest level in six weeks.

"Sellers are also noticing that even though there are fewer buyers in the market than usual, the buyers who are on the hunt are serious and willing to pay a fair price," Paolazzi said. "There are bidding wars for homes in desirable neighborhoods, and for investment properties that would be easy to rent out."