Half of All Home Listings Have Gone Stale, Unsold After 60 Days

Half of All Home Listings Have Gone Extra Stale, Unsold After 60 Days on Market

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  • 48% of all homes for sale in August had been on the market for at least 60 days, up from 43% a year ago.
  • The typical home took 37 days to find a buyer—six days longer than a year earlier.
  • Homes are selling fastest in Seattle and slowest in Florida metros.

Nearly half (48%) of all listings have lingered on the market for at least 60 days, the highest share for any August since 2019. 

That share was up from 43.2% a year ago and marked the fifth straight month in which the share of homes sitting for at least 60 days posted an annual increase.

This is based on an analysis of listings on Redfin.com going back through 2012. Our report focuses on homes that spent at least 30 or 60 days on the market and were actively listed for sale on the final day of the month. This data is seasonal; it typically peaks in the winter and troughs in the spring, which is why we focus on year-over-year changes.

The sluggish summer market continued to drag its heels in August, with home sales dropping to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic. 

“We usually see home sales pick up when mortgage rates fall, but this year we are seeing the opposite—sales are dropping and homes are sitting longer on the market,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari.  “Last week’s big interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve will give buyers a boost in confidence, but it remains to be seen whether sales will speed up in any meaningful way as we move into the slower Fall season.”

Nearly 70% of homes sitting for at least a month

Nearly seven out of every 10 homes (68.5%) on the market last month had been sitting for at least 30 days, up from 63.9% a year ago.

It was the sixth consecutive month that the share of month-old listings increased and the highest share for any August since before the pandemic in 2019.

“For a home to sell fast, or with multiple bids, it needs to be immaculately presented and have a unique design, or additional features like a pool,” said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier agent in Austin, TX. “I had a home receive multiple offers about a month ago—a rarity for us at the moment. It sold quickly and for $25,000 over list price because of how pretty it was—everything was perfectly painted, clean and manicured.”

Homes sell in less than two weeks in Seattle, compared to more than nine weeks in several Florida metros

Another way to examine the speed of the market is by looking at the median number of days it takes for homes to find a buyer.

"Anyone who has been paying attention to the housing market over the past few years knows that desirable homes sell right away. That's been true ever since the overall market slowed down after mortgage rates shot up a couple years ago,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “Now if a home is still on the market after a few weeks, buyers assume there's something wrong with it. That's why it's so important to price your home to move quickly. Buyers see the days on market and when it starts to tick up, it's like a scarlet letter."

The typical U.S. home was listed for 37 days before going under contract in August—six days longer than a year earlier. But the results were wildly different depending on where you were in the country. 

The typical Seattle home was snatched up in 12 days in August, the quickest result of the 50 most-populous metros that we analyzed, but still four days slower than a year earlier.

Indianapolis (16 days), Warren, MI (17 days), San Jose, CA (18 days) and Oakland, CA (20 days) rounded out the top five major metros where homes sold the fastest.

Major Metros With Fastest Sales

Metro Median Days On Market (Aug 2024) Year-Over-Year Difference
Seattle, WA 12 +4 days
Indianapolis, IN 16 +4 days
Warren, MI 17 +2 days
San Jose, CA 18 +5 days
Oakland, CA 20 +6 days
Detroit, MI 20 +3 days
Boston, MA 20 +1 day
St. Louis, MO 21 +7 days
Cleveland, OH 21 +4 days
Newark, NJ 21 -1 day

At the other end of the spectrum, homes in West Palm Beach, FL spent a median 79 days on the market before finding a buyer, 18 days longer than a year earlier. West Palm Beach was one of four major Florida metros where it took at least nine weeks to find a buyer—along with  Fort Lauderdale (75 days), Jacksonville (65 days) and Miami (65 days).

Major Metros With Slowest Sales

Metro Median Days On Market (Aug 2024) Year-Over-Year Difference
West Palm Beach, FL 79 +18 days
Fort Lauderdale, FL 75 +23 days
Jacksonville, FL 65 +23 days
Austin, TX 65 +11 days
Miami, FL 65 +11 days
San Antonio, TX 57 +12 days
Phoenix, AZ 55 +14 days
Nashville, TN 53 +8 days
Pittsburgh, PA 50 +1 day
Chicago, IL 49 No change

One reason homes are selling slower in Florida is the spike in new homes built over the past few years to meet the demand of people moving to the state during the pandemic. Now that inbound migration has leveled off, homes are sitting longer—with rising insurance and HOA costs also putting a dent in buyer demand.

Major Metro Analysis

Metro-level summary: Unsold inventory and median days on market
50 most populous U.S. metros
Metro AreaUnsold listings on market for at least 30 daysUnsold listings on market for at least 30 days, YoY change (in percentage points)Unsold listings on market for at least 60 daysUnsold listings on market for at least 60 days, YoY change (in percentage points)Median days on market before going under contractMedian days on market, YoY change (in days)
Anaheim, CA59.00%5.435.10%3.6355
Atlanta, GA68.50%7.347.10%7.94115
Austin, TX75.80%5.357.70%7.66511
Baltimore, MD59.50%2.338.10%1245
Boston, MA61.60%5.240.90%3.2201
Charlotte, NC65.10%7.141.90%5.3469
Chicago, IL60.70%0.635.20%-1.6490
Cincinnati, OH56.60%0.832.20%-4.63628
Cleveland, OH56.70%-0.234.10%-2.3214
Columbus, OH56.50%7.331.50%3.8415
Dallas, TX68.60%7.746.10%8.24613
Denver, CO66.30%844.70%92711
Detroit, MI62.60%-1.242.40%-1.3203
Fort Lauderdale, FL77.10%959.80%11.87523
Fort Worth, TX68.40%5.246.20%4.3439
Houston, TX68.20%1.151.10%54114
Indianapolis, IN60.30%3.439.50%3.7164
Jacksonville, FL72.50%6.551.70%5.86523
Kansas City, MO63.20%4.343.30%4.4276
Las Vegas, NV61.00%1.539.20%0.4405
Los Angeles, CA66.20%4.243.90%3.1395
Miami, FL76.60%5.160.20%5.96511
Milwaukee, WI50.50%225.90%0.6390
Minneapolis, MN59.00%3.136.70%0.6266
Montgomery County, PA56.80%2.835.40%1.4227
Nashville, TN68.00%1.445.80%0.3538
Nassau County, NY63.70%0.445.10%1.2250
New Brunswick, NJ61.70%4.236.80%0.6295
New York, NY75.10%-2.155.50%-4.347-2
Newark, NJ60.70%-0.539.40%-0.621-1
Oakland, CA57.70%7.433.80%4.5206
Orlando, FL71.50%8.752.50%113917
Philadelphia, PA69.60%148.90%-0.3412
Phoenix, AZ65.90%7.946.00%8.25514
Pittsburgh, PA66.90%3.743.30%1.5501
Portland, OR68.30%4.146.70%5.1257
Providence, RI54.70%6.330.30%1.4254
Riverside, CA66.80%3.346.50%4.7427
Sacramento, CA60.50%6.238.40%4.1235
San Antonio, TX75.80%7.856.40%8.75712
San Diego, CA58.20%7.835.80%5.32511
San Francisco, CA60.90%-1.541.10%-0.326-1
San Jose, CA53.80%11.529.10%4.1185
Seattle, WA61.40%4.538.50%4.6124
St. Louis, MO60.20%4.937.80%3.7217
Tampa, FL73.50%12.154.30%13.53916
Virginia Beach, VA57.80%635.10%3276
Warren, MI54.90%0.832.10%0172
Washington, DC60.40%2.138.90%2.6324
West Palm Beach, FL77.10%7.459.80%8.67918
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Mark Worley

As a data journalist, Mark helps to explain the range of economic factors impacting the housing market. Prior to joining Redfin, he spent seven years in content operations at real-time information company Dataminr, following reporting and editing roles in Australia, SE Asia and the Middle East.

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