A new study reveals that more than $347 billion worth of home listings are going stale on the market nationwide.
According to a new report from real estate brokerage Redfin, more than half (52.2%) of February’s home listings were on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract nationwide, up from 50.1% a year earlier and the highest share since 2019.
Redfin based its findings on an analysis of listings on its website going back through 2012. The data is seasonal, which is why this February is compared to past Februarys, Redfin noted.
“Sellers know it’s a buyer’s market, but they still want to get as much money as they can for their home. So they list on the high end, expecting buyers to negotiate down, and that’s leading to listings staying on the market for a long time,” said Jason Gale, a Redfin Premier agent in New Orleans. “There are still deals to be made, but nine times out of 10, homes are selling for under their asking price. But sometimes, the price is just too high, and sellers have to pull their home off the market after six months or so.”
The brokerage said that in dollar terms, there’s a total of $347 billion worth of stale inventory on the market, up 4.3% annually and the highest dollar amount on record for this time of year. You can blame it on the fact that there are hundreds of thousands more home sellers than buyers, leading to homes sitting on the market.
Looking at all inventory, Redfin noted that there’s a total of $636 billion worth of homes for sale, mostly unchanged from a year earlier. Like stale inventory, Redfin said that it is the highest dollar amount on record for this time of year (except 2025, when it was 0.01% higher).
The total value of stale inventory—and all inventory—is higher than ever for this time of year because there are a record 630,000 more home sellers than buyers in the market, lengthening the amount of time it takes to sell a home.
According to Redfin, here are more details:
Home prices are rising. The median home-sale price is up roughly 1% year over year. When home prices increase, so does the total dollar value of homes for sale, and the total dollar value of stale inventory.
Homebuying demand is slow. U.S. home sales fell 3.1% year over year in February. House hunters are wary of high mortgage rates and high prices, and they’re jittery because of economic uncertainty, including fears about layoffs, inflation, and the Iran war.
Home selling is chugging along. The total number of homes for sale is up 1.5% year over year. While some sellers have backed off, many are still in the market, hoping to cash in on still-high home values.
Days on market are at a record high. The typical home that went under contract in February spent 66 days on the market—the slowest pace in a decade for this time of year.
Redfin noted that stale listings are most common in Miami, Florida.
There, almost two-thirds (62.6%) of home listings are stale, the biggest share of all the major U.S. metros. Next are San Antonio, Texas (58.3%), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (58.1%), and West Palm Beach, Florida (55.9%).
Redfin said that listings are going stale in those places because they are major buyer’s markets; in Miami, San Antonio and West Palm Beach, there are more than twice as many home sellers as buyers, it said.
Stale listings are least common in the Bay Area of California.
In San Jose, for example, 19.8% of listings are stale, the smallest share among the major metros, followed by San Francisco (24%) and Oakland (31.1%). Next come Anaheim, California (34%) and Seattle, Washington (34.1%). Most of those are buyer’s markets, Redfin said, but to a much smaller degree than the Florida metros. For example, in San Jose, there are just 10% more sellers than buyers. San Francisco is a balanced market, with a roughly equal number of sellers and buyers.
Redfin noted that homes lingering on the market can have negative effects for sellers because sometimes, buyers are wary of homes that have been on the market for a long time.
