Redfin Reports U.S. Homes Are Selling at the Slowest Pace in 6 Years

Homes are taking longer to sell because many are overpriced and demand is sluggish. Plus, sellers are competing with each other—the supply of homes for sale hit a five-year high in March.

(NASDAQ: RDFN) — The typical U.S. home that went under contract in March was on the market for 47 days—the longest period for any March since 2019. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (www.redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. By comparison, the typical home was selling in under half that time during the peak of the pandemic homebuying frenzy.

March marked five years since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and many U.S. housing metrics are returning to the levels seen just before or during the early days of the pandemic—when the housing market was moving slowly. Roughly one-quarter (27%) of homes sold for over their list price last month—the lowest March share since 2020.

Homes are taking longer to sell and attracting less homebuyer competition because supply is climbing, demand is sluggish and some properties are overpriced. Meanwhile, demand is sluggish because economic uncertainty and high homebuying costs are giving house hunters pause.

The good news for buyers is that because supply is climbing, price growth is slowing.

Home Prices Are Increasing at the Slowest Pace in a Year and a Half

The median home-sale price in March was $431,057, up 2.5% from a year earlier. That’s the slowest growth since September 2023.

When supply is on the rise, sellers lose negotiating power because buyers have more options to choose from. Still, many sellers are trying to fetch high prices. List prices have been growing faster than sale prices, and Redfin agents report that sellers are overpricing their homes, causing them to sit on the market.

“There’s a growing disconnect between what sellers think they can get for their homes and the direction the market is actually moving,” said Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa. “Tariff fears and widespread economic uncertainty are making homebuyers nervous, so if sellers don’t lower their price expectations, home sales may slow in the coming months.”

The typical home that sold in March sold for roughly 1% less than its list price.

The Supply of Homes for Sale Is at a Five-Year High

Active listings—the total number of homes for sale—hit the highest level in five years in March. They climbed 0.1% month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis and 14.1% year over year.

New listings hit the highest level since July 2022, rising 0.7% month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis and 6% year over year.

Alicia Grifaldo, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Houston, said she has a lot more listing consults than buyers right now.

“Many people who bought homes in 2021 and 2022 are selling now, some of them because they can’t afford their property taxes and insurance payments. Because they bought at the peak of the market, they’re overpricing their homes to try to recoup their investment,” she said. “Sellers are competing with one another, and buyers are sparse, so pricing your listing reasonably is everything right now.”

It’s worth noting that new listings are up more than average in both Los Angeles (+23.5% Y/Y—the biggest increase in the country) and Washington, D.C. (+15.8%). In Los Angeles, listings could be rising because homeowners are putting their properties on the market to meet demand from families displaced by the January wildfires. And in D.C., the rise in listings could be related to the fact that so many federal workers are being laid off.

Home Sales Are Steady, But Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Pending home sales rose 1.7% month over month in March—the biggest gain in six months on a seasonally adjusted basis—and were little changed from a year earlier (-0.01%).

Closed home sales fell roughly 1% from both a month and a year earlier. Existing home sales (closed sales of non-newly-built homes) fell 1.3% month over month and 0.4% year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.15 million—the lowest level in six months. Closed sales are a lagging indicator because they reflect purchases that, while finalized in March, went under contract (AKA pending) during the several months leading up to March.

All three sales metrics—pending sales, closed sales and existing-home sales—are below pre-pandemic levels. Elevated mortgage rates are one reason sales are sluggish. The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.65% in March—the lowest level since October but still more than double the record low hit during the pandemic.

Metro-Level Highlights: March 2025

• Prices: Median sale prices rose most from a year earlier in Cleveland (11.8%), Nassau County, NY (9.8%) and Newark, NJ (9.5%). They fell in eight metros, most of which are in Florida and Texas, where rising supply and soaring insurance costs have fueled a housing slowdown. The biggest declines were in Jacksonville (-3.8%), San Francisco (-2.6%) and Austin (-1.6%).
• Pending home sales: Pending sales rose most in Montgomery County, PA (13.7%), Denver (6.9%) and Sacramento, CA (5.7%). They fell most in Fort Lauderdale (-15.2%), Miami (-14.8%) and Newark (-9.6%).
• Closed home sales: Home sales rose most in San Francisco (13%), Oakland, CA (11.7%) and New York (5.3%). They fell most in San Antonio (-16.2%), Warren, MI (-11.5%) and Jacksonville (-10.1%).
• New listings: New listings rose most in Los Angeles (23.5%), Boston (23.4%) and Anaheim, CA (23.3%). They fell in four metros: San Antonio (-7.3%), Kansas City, MO (-5.3%), Milwaukee (-1.8%) and Jacksonville (-0.2%).
• Active listings: Active listings rose most in Oakland (38.4%), Denver (37.7%) and Las Vegas (32%). They fell in three metros, all of which are in the Midwest: Kansas City (-2.5%), Detroit (-1.5%) and Milwaukee (-0.9%).
• Sold above list price: In San Jose, 71.2% of homes sold above their final list price, the highest share among the metros Redfin analyzed. Next came Newark (62.5%) and San Francisco (61.5%). The lowest shares were in Florida: West Palm Beach (7.2%), Fort Lauderdale (8.4%) and Miami (8.5%).
• Days on market: In Fort Lauderdale, the typical home that went under contract did so in 88 days, up 24 days from a year earlier—the biggest increase among the metros Redfin analyzed. Next came Miami (+19 days) and West Palm Beach (+19 days). San Francisco was the only metro that saw a decrease (-1 day Y/Y). Days on market was unchanged in Nassau County, New York and Boston.

To view the full report, including charts, full metro-level data and methodology, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/homes-sell-slowest-pace-since-2019

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, and title insurance services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.8 billion in commissions. We serve approximately 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250417050859/en/