High rates and holiday caution kept buyers and sellers on the sidelines
United States pending home sales declined nearly 6% year over year in early December, marking the steepest drop in almost a year and signaling that buyers and sellers alike have pulled back as 2025 drew to a close.
Redfin reported that pending sales for the four weeks ending December 14 fell 5.8% from a year earlier, with just six of the 50 largest metros posting annual gains.
House hunters, Redfin said, hesitated amid mortgage rates still above 6%, rising prices and lingering doubts about the economy and job security.
The typical home that did sell took 52 days to go under contract, roughly a week longer than a year earlier, while the share of homes selling above list price slipped to about one in five and the average sale-to-list ratio edged down to just over 98%.
“Mortgage rates are buyers’ biggest concern. They want to make sure they’re not paying too much every month,” said Tracy Edwards, a Redfin Premier agent in Raleigh, NC.
“My advice to sellers is to carefully consider the buyer’s perspective: If a buyer is taking on a high monthly payment, they want the house to be near perfect and the sale price to be fair. Be open to negotiations around repairs and seller concessions, and be realistic about the asking price. It’s better to sell a home quickly than let it linger on the market.”
Buyers hesitated despite rate easing
Redfin’s figures pointed to a mixed rate backdrop: the weekly average 30‑year fixed rate hovered around 6.2%, near its lowest level in roughly 14 months.
At the same time, Redfin’s own Homebuyer Demand Index showed activity down about 5% from a month earlier and 15% from a year ago, with Google searches for “homes for sale” slipping from November levels even as they ran above last year.
Other gauges suggested a more nuanced picture. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing‑home sales increased 1.2% in October, as buyers took advantage of lower rates.
Redfin’s latest report also cited Mortgage Bankers Association data showing purchase applications down 3% from a week earlier but up 13% year over year; MBA’s own headline release for the week ending December 5, however, showed total mortgage applications increasing 4.8% from the prior week.
Sellers waited for clearer signals
On the supply side, new listings fell 3.1% year over year, the sharpest drop of 2025, and active listings rose just 4.2%, the smallest increase since early 2024.
That left the market with about 4.5 months of supply – close to what many economists considered balanced conditions – but with more leverage shifting toward buyers in some metros as properties sat longer.
Earlier Redfin report found that “many homes are sitting on the market longer than usual, and many sellers are open to concessions,” even as buyers “are still sitting on the sidelines, weighing whether to act now or wait for further rate declines.”
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