Active Listings Jump, But Only Because of Stale Supply

Smell that? It’s the odor of a housing market growing increasingly stale.

More than half of home listings last month were on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract, according to a Redfin report. That’s an increase from 49.9 percent at the same time last year and the highest level of stale listings in a November since 2019.

The reasons homes are lingering vary across markets, but it largely boils down to pricing. Buyers and sellers are in a stalemate, neither willing to budge as buyers battle with rising costs and sellers prove hesitant to give up their homes for diminished prices, especially if they’re enjoying mortgage rates they locked in at the early stages of the pandemic.

“Homes that are priced well and in good condition are flying off the market in three to five days, but homes that are overpriced can sit for over three months,” Redfin agent Meme Loggins said in the report.

The typical home that went under contract last month spent 43 days on the market, the slowest pace in a November in five years.

The number of active listings achieved a seasonally-adjusted high since 2020, but active listings increased just 0.5 percent from October and 12.1 percent year-over-year.

Metros in Texas and Florida dominated the list of markets with the highest share of stale listings. Miami led the way with 63.8 percent of listings on the market for at least 60 days last month, followed by Austin and Fort Lauderdale.

Florida and Texas have felt a building boom recently, leading to more stale listings. In the Sunshine State, rising insurance costs and the growing specter of natural disasters are also giving buyers pause.

The metro with the lowest share of stale listings was Providence, Rhode Island, where 38.2 percent of active listings were for homes on the market for at least 60 days. Milwaukee was the only other metro among the top 50 with a share of stale listings below 40 percent.

Only three metros saw year-over-year declines in the share of lingering listings: Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco.