Housing Market at a Crossroads: Inventory Climbs but Some Sellers Hold Out

Delistings rise as some sellers choose to wait out the market

AUSTIN, Texas, July 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Realtor.com^® June Housing Trends Report reveals a new stand-off between buyers and sellers in today’s evolving real estate landscape. While active inventory climbed 28.1% year-over-year to hit a fresh post-pandemic high, some homeowners are choosing to pull their listings from the market. In May, delistings rose 47% from a year ago, and have trended 35% higher year-to-date. Delistings are growing faster than active inventory at 31.5%, an early signal that sellers may be losing patience in a market that’s taking longer to deliver desired offers.

“This year’s market is a study in contrasts,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com^®. Buyers are seeing more choices than they’ve had in years, but many sellers, anchored by peak price expectations and upheld by strong equity positions, are deciding to step back if they don’t get their number. Looking forward, this dynamic will affect whether we tip from a balanced to buyer’s market, and if so, how quickly that happens.

June 2025 Housing Metrics – National (*For metro stats, see table overview below)

Inventory Hits New Post-Pandemic High, Giving Buyers More Options
Even with more homeowners withdrawing their listings, buyers still have more homes to choose from since the pandemic began. Nationally, active listings topped 1 million for the second straight month, putting inventory about 13% below pre-pandemic norms, but steadily closing that gap.

Inventory grew in all four major U.S. regions in June, with the West seeing a 38% jump and the South up nearly 30%. Every one of the top 50 metros posted active inventory gains year over year, led by Las Vegas (+77.6%) and Washington, D.C. (+63.6%). More homes staying on the market longer is also contributing to this buildup, as median days on market increased to 53 days—five days longer than a year ago and matching pre-pandemic patterns.

Price Cuts Climb to Highest June Level in Nearly a Decade
Facing stiffer competition and affordability-challenged buyers, more sellers are adjusting their expectations, but cautiously. In June, 20.7% of listings saw price reductions, the highest share for any June since at least 2016 and the sixth consecutive month of growing price cuts.

Still, even with more markdowns, the national median list price held steady at $440,950, up just 0.1% from last year, underscoring that many sellers are still anchored to peak-era prices. The willingness to wait, either by holding out for the right buyer or pulling the home off the market entirely, has helped slow broader price declines.

Delistings Rise 47% as Some Sellers Choose to Wait Out the Market
While the number of homes for sale rose substantially, marking the 20th straight month of inventory growth, more homeowners are also opting to delist. Delistings outpaced overall inventory gains, jumping 35% year-to-date and 47% year-over-year in May, compared to active listing growth of 28.4% year-to-date and 31.5% year-over-year. As a result, delistings now make up a growing share of the market, climbing from about 3.2% of all active listings last May to 4.1% this year.

These stats highlight an important market dynamic happening; inventory is up by a lot overall, but delistings are growing faster than overall inventory growth, so more homes are listing and staying on the market, but more homes are coming off as delistings too.

Put simply: although buyers have more homes to choose from overall, a growing slice of sellers have tested the market and would prefer to sit on the sidelines rather than reduce their price. The ratio of delistings to new listings reached 13% this spring (covering March-May), meaning roughly 13 homes were pulled for every 100 newly listed, well above the rations seen over the past three spring markets, spring 2024: 10%, spring 2023 10%, and spring 2022: 6%.

In hot spots like Phoenix, Miami, and Riverside, Calif., sellers are especially likely to take listings off the market if the right buyer doesn’t materialize, signaling a pocket of supply that may return later at similar price points.

We’re seeing hesitation on both sides of the market,” said Anthony Djon, founder of Anthony Djon Luxury Real Estate. Inventory is rising, giving buyers more options and making them more price-sensitive and selective. At the same time, some sellers—especially those not getting immediate traction—are stepping back. The market has clearly shifted from the urgency and intensity of recent years, and today’s homeowners are having to recalibrate their expectations.”

June 2025 Housing Overview of the 50 Largest Metros 

*Note: Changes in the underlying source data for the Washington, DC; Philadelphia; and Baltimore metro areas may mean that growth in active and new listings counts is slightly over or understated, depending on the season, and time on market is slightly lower in 2025 relative to previous years. Unfortunately, there is not an adjustment mechanism for these changes, but data trends should be viewed with caution.

Methodology
Realtor.com housing data as of June 2025. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/row homes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com. Realtor.com data history goes back to July 2016. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB-202301) and Claritas 2025 estimates of household counts.

Beginning with our April 2025 report, we have transitioned to a revised national pending home sales data series that applies enhanced cleaning methods to improve consistency and accuracy over time. While the insights and commentary in this report reflect the new series, the downloadable data remains based on our legacy automated pipeline. As a result, there may be slight differences between the report figures and those in the national download file as we transition.

With the release of its January 2025 housing trends report, Realtor.com® has restated data points for some previous months. As a result of these changes, some of the data released since January 2025 will not be directly comparable with previous data releases (files downloaded before January 2025) and Realtor.com® economics research reports.

About Realtor.com^®
Realtor.com^® pioneered online real estate and has been at the forefront for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com® is a valued partner, delivering consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com^® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.

Media contact:  Asees Singh, press@realtor.com

SOURCE Realtor.com