Listings thinned, deals slowed and buyers pushed harder on price
Homeowners pulled back from listing their properties in November even as the market tilted further toward the buyers who stayed in the game.
Redfin data showed active listings slipped 1.4% month over month, the sharpest decline since mid‑2023, while pending home sales dropped 2.5%, the biggest fall in nearly a year on a seasonally adjusted basis.
New listings also eased, down 2.2% to their lowest level since April 2024, and the typical property that did find a buyer spent 53 days on the market – seven days longer than a year earlier and the slowest November pace since 2016.
“Sellers have to price their homes very reasonably to attract interest,” said Carlos Castillo, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Los Angeles.
“I recently advised a seller in the Valley to drop their price because we weren’t getting much interest. Cutting the price drummed up four separate offers and helped the home sell above the original asking price. The challenge is that most sellers are also buyers, and homes are expensive, so they often need to get a certain amount for their house to afford the next one. Another client plans to pull their home off the market for the holidays if they don’t get an offer within a month.”
Even with thinner supply, pricing power softened. The typical home sold for 1.6% below its final list price in November. That's the steepest November discount in six years. Nationally, the median sale price rose just 0.7% year over year to about $433,000, one of the slowest appreciation rates since mid‑2023.
“Many would‑be homebuyers and sellers are paralyzed by high prices and economic uncertainty,” said Redfin senior economist Asad Khan in a separate market update, noting there were “a lot more sellers in the market than buyers” and that remaining buyers had room to negotiate discounts and concessions.
High borrowing costs remain the key brake. High prices and rates are causing buyer hesitation even as underlying demand stayed intact, particularly in expensive coastal markets.
Both sides of the transaction pull back, but buyers step away faster, leaving those still active with more leverage to demand price cuts, repairs and other concessions.
For lenders and originators, pipeline growth would depend less on volume recovery and more on helping seasoned borrowers and investors navigate a slow, negotiation‑heavy market.
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