Sellers pulled 5.8 percent of all U.S. home listings from the market in April, tied for the highest share since the pandemic froze real estate in March 2020.
The surge comes as asking prices record their steepest annual drop since 2017, buyers gain leverage and a widening gap between seller expectations and market reality pushes more homeowners to wait rather than concede on price, according to new data from Redfin and Realtor.com.
The surge in delistings comes as asking prices fall, and buyers gain leverage. Median list prices dropped 2.4 percent year over year in May, the steepest annual decline in Realtor.com data going back to 2017, according to a separate monthly housing report published Tuesday. Prices per square foot fell 2.5 percent and were down in 35 of the top 50 metros.
Redfin attributed the delisting trend to a widening gap between seller expectations and buyer behavior. Homes are taking longer to sell, mortgage rates remain roughly double pandemic-era lows, and inventory has risen faster than demand in many markets, increasing competition among sellers and giving buyers room to negotiate.
“Sellers are still getting used to the post-pandemic normal,” said Patricia Ammann, a Redfin Premier agent in Arlington, Virginia. “Buyers know they have negotiating power, often offering under the asking price and completing inspections, but some sellers just won’t budge.”
Atlanta recorded the highest delisting rate among the 50 largest U.S. metros, with 10.7 percent of April listings pulled from the market. San Jose, California (9.3 percent), Los Angeles (7.8 percent), Dallas (7.8 percent) and Seattle (7.7 percent) followed. Pittsburgh had the lowest rate at 3.5 percent.
Despite the spike in delistings, some sellers are returning. Relistings — homes that went back on the market after being pulled for at least 31 days in the prior 12 months — accounted for 2.5 percent of active listings in April, the highest share since mid-2020. San Francisco led all metros at 4.2 percent, followed by San Jose at 4.1 percent, a trend Redfin attributed to demand fueled by the AI boom.
The broader market showed signs of resilience despite the pressure. Pending listings rose 4.3 percent year over year in May, the sixth consecutive month of growth, according to Realtor.com. New listings climbed 2.1 percent year over year, hitting their highest May level since 2022.
The share of listings with price cuts fell 1.6 percentage points compared to a year earlier — a signal, Realtor.com noted, that sellers are pricing to current conditions rather than testing the market’s ceiling.
