Redfin reports that active listings—the total number of homes for sale—climbed to the highest level since 2020 in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, rising 0.5% month-over-month, and 12.1% year-over-year. Redfin reports a major reason for the jump in housing supply is a pileup of unsold homes, many of which buyers have deemed undesirable because they seem overpriced.
More than half (54.5%) of home listings in November sat on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract—marketing the highest share for any November since 2019, and is up from 49.9% a year earlier. The typical home that did go under contract in November did so in 43 days, the slowest November pace since 2019.
“A lot of listings on the market are either stale or uninhabitable. There’s a lot of inventory, but it doesn’t feel like enough,” said Meme Loggins, a Redfin Premier Real Estate Agent in Portland, Oregon. “I explain to sellers that their house will sit on the market if it’s not fairly priced. Homes that are priced well and in good condition are flying off the market in three to five days, but homes that are overpriced can sit for over three months.”
Loggins noted that homes priced $650,000 or below typically attract the most competition from buyers, but those homes are often the ones sitting on the market now because sellers in that price range are most likely to overprice.
In Portland, 58.7% of listings in November lingered on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract—the seventh highest share among the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas.
States With the Highest Inventory
In Miami, 63.8% of listings in November were on the market for 60 days or longer without going under contract—the highest share among the top 50 metros. Next came Austin, Texas (62.4%); Fort Lauderdale, Florida (62.3%); San Antonio (60.3%); and Orlando, Florida (59.9%).
Florida and Texas have been building more homes than anywhere else in the country, which is one reason inventory, and thus, stale listings, are on the rise. Surging HOA fees, high insurance costs and destructive natural disasters are also making many Florida house hunters hesitant to pull the trigger. Florida is home to three of the five metros that saw the largest year-over-year increases in active listings last month.
Florida has also seen the biggest increase in stale inventory. In Tampa, 56.9% of listings last month were on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract, up 12.3 percentage points from a year earlier. That’s the largest gain among the top 50 metros. Next came Fort Lauderdale (12 percentage points), Orlando (11 percentage points), San Diego (11 percentage points), and West Palm Beach (11 percentage points).
Lowest Share of Inventory
In Providence, Rhode Island, 38.2% of listings in November were on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract—the lowest share among the top 50 metros. Next came Milwaukee (38.8%); Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (41.4%); Warren, Michigan (41.7%); and San Jose, California (41.8%).
There are just three metros where the share of stale listings decreased from a year earlier: Philadelphia (-1.7 ppts to 51%), Chicago (-0.7 ppts to 44.9%) and San Francisco (-0.5 ppts to 53.4%).
Click here for more on Redfin’s latest report on the nation’s housing supply.
