More home sellers are pulling properties off the market rather than dropping prices

Yahoo

3 days ago

Many home sellers are loath to cut prices, opting to de-list their properties instead.
Conditions have been tilting in favor of buyers, but frustrated sellers could stall that momentum.
The housing market has been frozen over for the last few years, with prices and mortgage rates remaining elevated.
The US housing market has been tilting in buyers' favor recently, but a rising trend among home sellers could stall that momentum.
A report from Realtor.com this month showed that rather than lowering the price of their homes or negotiating with buyers, many sellers are opting to simply remove their homes from the market.
The company's Monthly Housing Market Trends Report for June 2025 shows that sellers in the South and West have been facing downward pricing pressure, as both housing supply and median time on market have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Throughout the East and North, however, prices have risen slightly.
Even as national markdowns have grown, though, Realtor.com reports that "national median list prices have held steady." This indicates that sellers are still driven by high expectations, even in a volatile and complicated economy.
"Delistings outpaced overall inventory gains—jumping 35% year to date and 47% year over year in May, compared with active listing growth of 28.4% and 31.5%, respectively," the report stated. "The spike signals that some sellers would rather wait than negotiate, suggesting recent buyer-friendly momentum could wane."
The message is clear for aspiring home buyers. Sellers are not interested in settling for a lower price, even if that means waiting longer to sell their home or backing out of the market entirely.
Jake Krimmel, a senior economist at Realtor.com highlighted that sellers are enjoying "record high levels of home equity," which grant them significant flexibility.
"This allows many sellers to withdraw their homes from the market if their asking price isn't met," he stated.
A lack of inventory is likely to lead to a shift in the housing market, as fewer homes for sale could push prices up again after a period that saw prices plateau or decline in key markets.
Other data shows that the number of first-time home buyers has steadily decreased, as economic conditions compel buyers—especially younger people—to see renting as a better financial decision.
If sellers continue to remove their homes from the market rather than lower prices, this trend is likely to continue. As housing experts told Business Insider recently, this poses negative consequences for the broader economy, as the housing market is an important engine for growth.
Read the original article on Business Insider