Home sellers are giving up at ‘unusually high rate,’ says new Realtor report

Late fall tends to be the time when the most homes come off the market, as so-far unsuccessful sellers would rather not sit through the slowest winter months. In October, however, delistings, which are reported with a one-month lag, were up 45.5% year to date and up nearly 38% from October 2024, according to a new report from Realtor.com.

The report calls it an “unusually high rate,” as this is now the highest delisting year since they began tracking in 2022. Delistings began to rise in June and have remained elevated for 5 straight months. About 6% of active listings are coming off the market each month, which is typically only seen in the dead of winter.

In addition, more potential buyers are heading to what Realtor.com calls “refuge markets.” These are areas where home prices are much more affordable and didn’t see the runup in prices during the first years of the pandemic.

“Rising delistings and the growth of refuge markets capture the push and pull defining today’s housing market,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com in a release. “These dynamics reflect how higher rates and years of rapid price growth have rewritten the rules of engagement for both buyers and sellers.”

Hale does forecast a gradual improvement next year, with potentially lower mortgage rates and more consistent supply creating an increasingly balanced market between buyer and seller.

Some of the cities that saw the most price growth over the past five years are now seeing the largest share of frustrated sellers. Miami, Florida, Denver, Colorado and Houston, Texas saw the highest ratio of homes delisted compared to newly listed.

The median list price in November nationally was 0.4% lower than November 2024, according to Realtor.com. It was still, however, 36% higher than November 2019, pre-pandemic. New listings were up just 1.7% from a year ago.

Price gains are much stronger in refuge markets, like Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they’re up 5.5% year-over year and St. Louis, Missouri, where they’re up 5%. Cleveland, Ohio, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania round out the top performing refuge markets, according to the report. Prices in these markets are still 20-30% lower than the national median.

Another troubling trend this fall — canceled contracts. Roughly 15% of home purchase agreements were canceled in October, up from 14% the year before, according to Redfin. Cancellations are now well above pre-pandemic levels.

Regionally, San Antonio, Texas saw the most canceled deals, with over one in five (21%) pending home sales falling through in October. It was followed by Fort Lauderdale, Florida (20%), Fort Worth, Texas (19.7%), Las Vegas, Nevada (19.2%) and Jacksonville, Florida (19.2%).

The report cited high housing costs as well as economic uncertainty.