According to Redfin, 52.2% of February’s home listings sat on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract. Defining this as “stale inventory,” these types of listings have increased nationwide over the past year from 50.1%—marking the highest level in any given February since 2019, the portal said in a new report.
This equates to a total of $347 billion worth of stale inventory across the nation, up 4.3% year-over-year—the highest dollar amount on record given the time of year. Looking at all available inventory on the market, Redfin notes that there is a total of $636 billion worth of homes currently for sale, a figure that is essentially unchanged from the year before.
The report goes on to explain that with more sellers than buyers in the market (a record 630,000 more), the amount of time it takes to sell a home has increased—which has led to the value of total stale inventory as well as all inventory to be higher than ever for this time of year. Drilling down further, Redfin notes that:
- 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.
- 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.
Geographically speaking, stale listings are most prominent in Miami, Florida (62.6% of home listings are stale). This is followed by San Antonio, Texas (58.3%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (58.1%); West Palm Beach, Florida (55.9%); and Orlando, Florida (55.7%).
On the flip side of the coin, stale listings are least common in the following areas: San Jose, California (19.8%); San Francisco, California (24%); Oakland, California (31.1%); Anaheim, California (34%); and Seattle, Washington (34.1%).
Looking regionally, the South was overrepresented for markets with significant stale listings, as eight cities had stale listings at above the national average rate. The West, on the other hand, had none that exceeded the national average, while the Northeast and Midwest claimed three and two above-average metros, respectively.
