Residential Real Estate News
Stale Home Listings on the Rise in America
Half of all active listings were stale in August, highest share in 5 years
Based on new data from Redfin, nearly half (48%) of all U.S. listings have lingered on the market for at least 60 days, the highest share for any August since 2019.
That share was up from 43.2% a year ago and marked the fifth straight month in which the share of homes sitting for at least 60 days posted an annual increase.
The sluggish summer market continued to drag its heels in August, with home sales dropping to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
"We usually see home sales pick up when mortgage rates fall, but this year we are seeing the opposite--sales are dropping and homes are sitting longer on the market," said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. "Last week's big interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve will give buyers a boost in confidence, but it remains to be seen whether sales will speed up in any meaningful way as we move into the slower Fall season."
Nearly 70% of homes are sitting for at least a month
Nearly seven out of every 10 homes (68.5%) on the market last month had been sitting for at least 30 days, up from 63.9% a year ago.
It was the sixth consecutive month that the share of month-old listings increased and the highest share for any August since before the pandemic in 2019.
"For a home to sell fast, or with multiple bids, it needs to be immaculately presented and have a unique design, or additional features like a pool," said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier agent in Austin, TX. "I had a home receive multiple offers about a month ago--a rarity for us at the moment. It sold quickly and for $25,000 over list price because of how pretty it was--everything was perfectly painted, clean and manicured."
Homes sell in less than two weeks in Seattle, compared to more than nine weeks in several Florida metros
Another way to examine the speed of the market is by looking at the median number of days it takes for homes to find a buyer.
"Anyone who has been paying attention to the housing market over the past few years knows that desirable homes sell right away. That's been true ever since the overall market slowed down after mortgage rates shot up a couple years ago," said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. "Now if a home is still on the market after a few weeks, buyers assume there's something wrong with it. That's why it's so important to price your home to move quickly. Buyers see the days on market, and when it starts to tick up, it's like a scarlet letter."
The typical U.S. home was listed for 37 days before going under contract in August--six days longer than a year earlier. But the results were wildly different depending on where you were in the country.
The typical Seattle home was snatched up in 12 days in August, the quickest result of the 50 most-populous metros that Redfin analyzed, but still four days slower than a year earlier.
Indianapolis (16 days), Warren, MI (17 days), San Jose, CA (18 days) and Oakland, CA (20 days) rounded out the top five major metros where homes sold the fastest.
At the other end of the spectrum, homes in West Palm Beach, FL spent a median 79 days on the market before finding a buyer, 18 days longer than a year earlier. West Palm Beach was one of four major Florida metros where it took at least nine weeks to find a buyer--along with Fort Lauderdale (75 days), Jacksonville (65 days) and Miami (65 days).
One reason homes are selling slower in Florida is the spike in new homes built over the past few years to meet the demand of people moving to the state during the pandemic. Now that inbound migration has leveled off, homes are sitting longer--with rising insurance and HOA costs also putting a dent in buyer demand.
