The share of homes listed for 30 days or longer without going under contract rose by 12.5 percent in July, according to a Redfin report. That means 61.2 percent of for-sale homes were on the market for at least 30 days, up from 54.4 percent a year earlier.
It marks the first year-over-year increase in “stale” housing supply since the beginning of the pandemic.
Homes staying on the market longer reflects the housing market slowing in response to 5 percent-plus mortgage rates and a shaky economy, according to Redfin. It’s also a reason why the housing supply shortage is easing. The total number of homes for sale was up 4 percent year-over-year in July, the biggest increase since mid-2019.
“People want to know whether we’ve officially shifted from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. While there’s not a clear line separating those two ideas, homes sitting on the market longer is a point in buyers’ favor,” Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr said in a release. “Buyers can take their time making careful decisions about homes without worrying so much about bidding wars, offering over the asking price and waiving contingencies.
“It’s a different story for sellers, who have spent the last two years hearing about their neighbors’ homes getting multiple offers the day they go on sale. Now they need to price lower and get back to the basics of selling a home, like staging and sprucing up painting, to get buyers’ attention.”
The share of for-sale homes listed for two weeks or longer was up 7.6 percent year-over-year in July (from 74.6 percent to 80.3 percent), the second increase since the beginning of the pandemic and the biggest on record. The share of for-sale homes on the market for 60 days or longer was up 6.8 percent (from 31.4 percent to 33.5 percent), the first increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
The share of for-sale Oakland, Calif., homes sitting on the market for at least 30 days was up 60.7 percent year-over-year in July, the biggest increase in the metros analyzed by Redfin. It’s followed by Phoenix (54.5), Austin, Texas, (50.9 percent), Anaheim, Calif., (49.7 percent), Riverside, Calif., (46.7 percent), Fort Worth, Texas, (43.4 percent), Dallas (42.9 percent), Washington, D.C. (42.5 percent), Sacramento, Calif., (41.7 percent) and Seattle (41.3 percent).
The big year-over-year uptick in stale inventory is likely to stabilize soon, according to Redfin, as it’s partly a reflection of last year’s hot housing market. The typical home went under contract in 15 days in July 2021, close to the fastest on record.
The share of stale inventory declined year-over-year in just one metro: Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where it was down about 1 percent.