- The total dollar value of home listings hit a record high in April, according to Redfin.
- There were also nearly 500,000 more home sellers than buyers.
- The buyer's market means that homebuyers may be able to snag better deals as home prices are expected to drop in 2025.
Home sellers are having trouble finding buyers.
There was around $698.4 billion worth of homes on the market in April, the highest number since data going back to 2012, according a report from real-estate brokerage Redfin.
“A huge pop of listings hit the market at the start of spring, and there weren’t enough buyers to go around,” said Matt Purdy, a Redfin Premier agent in Denver, in a statement.
Separately, Redfin said there were nearly 500,000 more home sellers than buyers in April.
Redfin said there are many reasons for the housing market's record value of homes for sale and high number of listings:
- 5-year high of homes: The total number of homes on the market rose nearly 17% year over year in April to its highest level in 5 years. New listings also increased 8.6% to a 3-year high. Homeowners who were previously hesistant to sell because they have lower mortgage rates are now trying to cash out due to economic uncertainty.
- Homes are on the market longer: A typical home took 40 days to go under contract in April, five days longer than a year earlier.
- Lower demand: Agents in much of the country say would-be homebuyers are backing off due to record-high monthly housing costs and economic instability.
- Rising home prices: The median U.S. home-sale price rose 1.4% year over year in April.
- Homes are too expensive: The median home sale price rose 1.6% year over year to $431,931 in April, marking the the slowest growth in nearly two years, but monthly housing payments still hit a record high because mortgage rates and prices remain elevated. An average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.73% in April, more than double the record low during the pandemic.
- Economic uncertainty: Tariffs, layoffs and federal policy changes are lowering homebuyer demand. Nearly one fourth of Americans are scrapping plans to make a major purchase due to tariffs, a Redfin survey finds.
- Mortgage rate lock-in effect easing: Homeowners who got low mortgage rates during the pandemic are now giving up those low rates and selling their homes. Some of the reasons are because job changes, return to office requirements and divorces forcing people to move.
Redfin also said it predicts the median U.S. home-sale price to fall 1% year over year by the fourth quarter of 2025. But prices could fall much more in certain areas.
The conditions mean that homebuyers have an opportunity to get better home prices, Purdy said.
“House hunters are only buying if they absolutely have to, and even serious buyers are backing out of contracts more than they used to," Purdy said. "Buyers have a window to get a deal; there’s still a surplus of inventory on the market, with sellers facing reality and willing to negotiate prices down.”