Increasing Number Of Homes On The Market Longer

More than 60% of houses listed for sale were on the market for at least 30 days in July before going under contract, up from 54.4% from a year ago, real estate firm Redfin reported today.

“People want to know whether we’ve officially shifted from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. While there’s not a clear line separating those two ideas, homes sitting on the market longer is a point in buyers’ favor,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “Buyers can take their time making careful decisions about homes without worrying so much about bidding wars, offering over asking price and waiving contingencies.”

“It’s a different story for sellers, who have spent the last two years hearing about their neighbors’ homes getting multiple offers the day they go on sale," Marr added. "Now they need to price lower and get back to the basics of selling a home, like staging and sprucing up painting, to get buyers’ attention."

Redfin says 61.2% of all homes were on the market for at least 30 days in July, up from 54.4% a year ago, attributing it to a reflection of increased mortgage rates, which are now more than 5.5%, Bankrate reports.

“The total number of homes for sale was up 4% year over year in July, the biggest increase since 2019,” Redfin said in its report. “That’s largely due to homes staying on the market longer; the number of new listings was down 6%.”

The share of houses listed for sale for two weeks or longer jumped to 80.3%, up from 74.6% a year ago, Redfin reported, and the share of houses on the market for 60 days or longer increased to 33.5%, up from 31.4% a year ago.

“The market did a 180-degree turn from early spring to late spring, with buyers backing out because of high mortgage rates," said Houston-based Redfin real estate agent Christopher Johns. "A lot of sellers are telling me they feel that they’ve missed out on the hot market.”