“More sellers are giving up because their homes have been sitting on the market for a long time, and they don’t want to or can’t afford to settle on accepting a low price.”

“Many homes have a sticker price higher than buyers are willing to pay, but many sellers are unwilling to negotiate. When tens of thousands of homeowners pull their homes off the market rather than accept a low offer, it effectively reduces the supply of homes that are actually available for buyers.”

“Many homeowners who bought during the pandemic demand frenzy still expect sky-high prices. They remember a seller’s market, so they’re hesitant to yield to buyers who want to negotiate the price down and/or ask for concessions. Recent buyers are also more likely to be testing the market; maybe they would sell and move up to a bigger home in a more desirable neighborhood if they get the price they want, but otherwise they’d stay put. Longtime owners, though, are more motivated to sell–they’re often downsizing or relocating for retirement.”

“Roughly one in five homes that were delisted over the summer were re-listed within three months: 20% of homes that were pulled off the market in July were subsequently re-listed, as were 18% of homes that were pulled in June. We’re including this metric because delisting is sometimes used as a selling strategy; some sellers take their homes off the market and subsequently relist at a lower price to avoid house hunters seeing a “price drop” on their listing, and to reset the number of days their home has been on the market. Note that we’re looking at delistings over the summer rather than September to ensure that enough time has passed to determine whether a home was re-listed. Of the homes that were delisted in July then put back on the market, 31.6% of them have sold.”