A growing number of US home sellers are pulling their listings from the market as demand weakens and prices soften, according to new data from Redfin. Nearly 85,000 sellers yanked their homes off the market in September, a 28% increase from the previous year and the highest figure for the month in eight years, per CNBC. The trend is attributed to homes sitting unsold for longer periods, with 70% of September listings having remained on the market for at least 60 days. Rather than accept lower offers, many homeowners are choosing to wait, hoping for better conditions in the future.
Home prices remain up 1.3% year-over-year, but that figure is down from 1.4% in August. Redfin senior economist Asad Khan says the uptick in delistings is keeping inventory tighter than it appears, which in turn is helping to keep sale prices elevated. "It's kind of like keeping us in this holding pattern," Realtor.com economist Jake Krimmel tells CBS News. Some sellers, meanwhile, are opting to cut prices—sometimes more than once. Zillow reports that the typical price cut is about $10,000, but "the typical listing saw $25,000 in cumulative price cuts" in October, per CNBC.
The housing market is also now entering its slowest season, and while 20% of delisted homes are eventually relisted, that may not happen until the busier spring period. Home prices are still 50% higher than what we saw five years ago, but sellers who bought more recently are possibly looking at losses. Redfin says 15% of homes delisted in September were at risk of selling at a loss, the biggest share in five years.
Meanwhile, the overall supply of homes for sale is up 15% from last year, according to Realtor.com, but that number is expected to decline due to seasonal factors and weakening sentiment among both buyers and sellers. Pending sales in October saw a slight month-to-month increase, possibly due to a brief dip in mortgage rates, but remained essentially flat compared with a year ago.
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