A flood of do‑overs met a still‑cautious pool of buyers
Nearly 45,000 US homes that have been pulled from the market last year were relisted in January 2026, a record for the month and equal to 3.6% of all active listings, according to Redfin.
The surge highlighted how owners who balked at cutting prices in 2025 have returned in time for the crucial spring selling window, even as the balance of power still leaned toward buyers.
Those relistings followed a wave of withdrawals in late 2025, when monthly delistings peaked at roughly 112,800 as high borrowing costs, economic jitters and sticky prices thinned the buyer pool.
In many markets, there were simply more sellers than shoppers, and properties that lingered were quietly taken down rather than repriced.
Relistings test buyers’ new bargaining power
“Many sellers who pulled their homes off the market last year are relisting now in hopes of capitalizing on spring homebuying season,” said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier agent in Austin, Texas.
“I’m working with one couple who plans to relist their current home as soon as they close the deal on the house they’re in the process of buying. Their house was on the market last year, but they didn’t have an incentive to lower the price enough to attract buyers because they hadn’t yet found their dream home.”
Mortgage rates fell to about 5.98% last week, the lowest level in more than three years, giving would‑be buyers slightly more room in their budgets.
“Homebuyers are already scoring discounts because there are more homes for sale than people who want to buy them, and it’s possible those discounts will get bigger if relistings boost supply further,” said Redfin senior economist Asad Khan.
“Some sellers will be more flexible on price when they relist since they’ve already been burned once. Buyers shouldn’t be shy about asking for concessions; even if the list price is high on paper, the seller may be open to negotiating.”
West Coast churn, Midwest holdouts
Relistings were most prevalent in expensive West Coast hubs. In San Jose, 257 homes that have been delisted last year came back to market in January, accounting for 12.5% of local listings. That's the highest share among the 50 largest US metros.
San Francisco and Oakland followed at 11.4% and 10.2%, with Seattle and Denver rounding out the top five.
More affordable metros relisted far less. Pittsburgh saw just 132 relistings, or 1.7% of homes on the market, the lowest big‑city share. Milwaukee, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach and Kansas City all hovered near 2%.
“Milwaukee is a lowercase S seller’s market, not an uppercase S seller’s market,” said Redfin Premier agent W.J. Eulberg.
“There are neighborhoods where homes will sell for 6‑8% over the list price and neighborhoods where they won’t. Sellers should continue to price their homes fairly and make sure they’re in good condition when they hit the market.”
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