Number of US Home Sellers Falls for First Time Since 2023

On Wednesday, Redfin reported that the US housing market has lost about 14,000 home sellers over the past two months, with the total number of sellers falling to 1.95 million in July from a peak of 1.96 million in May. This marks the first decline since July 2023, when rising mortgage rates made homeowners reluctant to sell and pushed supply near historic lows.

Sellers still outnumber buyers by the widest margin in records dating back to 2013. Redfin estimates 1.43 million homebuyers were in the market in July, the lowest level on record aside from the onset of the pandemic.

Up until recently, sellers had been increasing, partly because the mortgage-rate lock-in effect was easing and partly because homes were taking longer to sell, causing listings to accumulate. In May, Redfin reported that the number of sellers in the market had reached a five-year high and predicted they would start retreating once it became clear the market favored buyers.

With sellers now pulling back, inventory is beginning to tighten. That shift is coinciding with a slight pickup in home prices. The median home sale price rose 1.4% year-over-year in July to $434,189—the highest July level on record. That follows gains of 1.2% in June and 1.1% in May, a notable turnaround from earlier in the year when home-price growth was slowing.

Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan said,

“Homebuyers are spooked by high home prices, high mortgage rates, and economic uncertainty, and now sellers are spooked because buyers are spooked. Some sellers are delisting their homes or choosing not to list at all after seeing other houses sit on the market for weeks or months, only to fetch less than the asking price.”