More sellers are putting homes on the market just as buyers pull back, widening a gap that increasingly favors those still shopping. New listings of U.S. homes for sale rose 5.8% from a year earlier β and 1.2% from the prior week β to their highest level in more than three months during the four weeks ending Aug. 16, according to a housing market update from Redfin published Thursday. It was the fifth straight week of increases in new supply.
At the same time, demand kept cooling. Pending home sales fell 1.3% week over week and 2.4% from a year earlier, to their lowest level since March, Redfin said, extending a slide that has pushed the active homebuyer count to record lows in recent weeks. The brokerage estimated there are roughly half a million more sellers than buyers in the market β a balance that is giving buyers more room to negotiate.
Prices flatten as supply builds
The median U.S. sale price was $401,182 in the four-week period, up 1.8% from a year earlier β a far slower pace of appreciation than the double-digit gains seen earlier in the decade and in line with the cooling price growth Redfin tracked in July. More telling, the median asking price slipped 0.1% year over year, the first such decline since January, a sign that sellers are beginning to temper their expectations as homes take longer to move.
Active listings rose to about 1.5 million, up 1.2% from a year earlier, pushing months of supply to 3.8. A reading of four to five months is generally considered balanced, so the market remains tilted modestly toward sellers on that measure even as conditions soften. Homes took a median of 43 days to sell, unchanged from a year earlier, and 20.8% of listings had a price drop.
Even with softer demand, competition has not disappeared: 26.7% of homes sold above their list price, up slightly from about 26% a year earlier, and the average sale-to-list price ratio edged up to 98.9%.
High costs keep buyers cautious
The pullback in demand comes as financing costs sit near their highest levels in more than a year. Redfin cited a weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.67% and a daily average of 6.72%, leaving the median monthly mortgage payment at $2,597. Purchase-mortgage applications were down about 3% from a year earlier, and Google searches for “homes for sale” fell 9% from a month earlier.
“Many house hunters are sitting on the sidelines because the economy is uncertain and housing costs are high,” Redfin said. The brokerage noted that many owners who held off listing through the spring, waiting for the market to pick up, are now listing anyway.
“Some homeowners have been waiting for mortgage rates to fall and demand to surge β but now they realize that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, so they’re taking the plunge now,” said Jamie Derouen, a Redfin Premier agent in the Houston area. Derouen added that everyday life events continue to generate supply regardless of the market: “Some of my clients are selling because they’re retiring and downsizing, some are relocating for a job, and some are growing their families.”
A widening regional split
National figures masked sharp differences between metros. Among the 50 most populous markets, new listings jumped most in San Jose, California (up 16%), St. Louis (13.8%) and Virginia Beach, Virginia (12.9%), while falling most in Dallas (down 13.6%) and Atlanta (down 9.4%). Median sale prices rose fastest in West Palm Beach, Florida (10.2%) and Newark, New Jersey (8.3%), but fell in several Sun Belt and West Coast markets, led by Seattle (down 5.5%) and Austin, Texas (down 3.9%). Pending sales dropped most steeply in Seattle (down 17.9%) and Houston (down 16.3%).
What it means: The data points to a slow but real shift toward buyers, especially in markets where supply is rising fastest and prices are already easing. Redfin’s economists framed the combination of more listings and weak demand as an opportunity for buyers willing to act, with some sellers now accepting lower prices or offering concessions. For sellers, the message is the opposite: pricing to the market and preparing for a longer sale has become more important as the inventory advantage they enjoyed for years continues to erode. The trajectory from here will depend largely on whether mortgage rates ease enough to bring hesitant buyers back before the fall slowdown.
Redfin’s national metrics draw on data from more than 900 U.S. metro areas covering homes listed or sold during the period, and figures are seasonally adjusted and subject to revision.
