More home sellers are taking listings off the market, Redfin says
Weak buyer demand, weakening home prices, and general uncertainty in the economy are combining to cause home sellers to change their minds and withdraw from the market.
Close to 85,000 U.S. sellers took their homes off the market in September, up 28% from September 2024 and the highest in eight years, according to Redfin.
Sellers are delisting as many listings become stale and remain on the market longer. Redfin reported that 70% of listings in September were on the market for 60 days or more.
Homeowners are seeing prices weaken significantly and are choosing to wait rather than accept a low offer. According to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, prices in September rose 1.3% year-over-year, compared to a 1.4% increase in August.
“The frequency of delistings keeps inventory tighter than it looks on paper,” said Asad Khan, senior economist at Redfin. “If tens of thousands of homeowners take their homes off the market rather than accept a low offer, this effectively reduces the supply of homes available to buyers. This keeps sales prices high.”
Some sellers reduce prices multiple times. The typical price discount is roughly $10,000, but multiple discounts are becoming more common as homes take longer to sell, according to Zillow. The typical listing saw $25,000 in cumulative price reductions in October, matching the largest discounts Zillow has ever recorded.
The housing market is currently entering its slowest season. While 1 in 5 delisted homes are relisted, this may not happen for several months as sellers wait until the much busier spring season to try again.
Home prices are still 50% higher than they were five years ago, but some sellers who bought homes in the last few years are facing potential losses. According to Redfin, about 15 percent of homes delisted in September were at risk of being sold at a loss; This was the highest rate in the last five years.
The supply of homes for sale is currently about 15% higher than a year ago, according to Realtor.com, but that’s expected to decrease in the coming weeks due to both the season and weakening consumer confidence among buyers and sellers.
Pending sales based on contracts signed in October rose 1.9% month over month and remained nearly flat from a year ago, according to real estate agents. The monthly increase may have been due to a small decrease in mortgage interest rates, which rose again in November.
