The US housing market has stalled as rising mortgage rates and years of steep price growth leave sellers struggling to find buyers, forcing many to cut asking prices or offer thousands of dollars towards costs.
Some homeowners have taken their properties off the market, while others are delaying moves linked to jobs, divorce or growing families. The shift has weakened sellers’ bargaining power after a period in which homes often attracted competing offers above their asking prices.
Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American Financial, said the market had moved towards conditions that favoured buyers.
“That means you might have to reduce your price, you might give a concession to get your home sold, it might have to stay on market longer,” he said.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose as high as 7.4% this month, its highest level in nearly three years, after briefly falling below 6% in February. The increase has further discouraged potential buyers, many of whom are waiting for more favourable conditions.
The national median home listing price fell 1.2% year-on-year in September to $419,250, according to Realtor.com. Prices have declined on an annual basis for 11 consecutive months, while 21% of listings had their initial asking price reduced during the month, the highest proportion in four years.
Buyers are also increasingly asking sellers to contribute towards closing costs or reduce their mortgage rates for a period of time or for the life of the loan.
Jake Krimmel, a senior economist at Realtor.com, said the concessions showed buyers were gaining leverage as sellers sought to meet them halfway.
There were about 63% more sellers than buyers across the 50 largest US metropolitan areas last month, according to an analysis by Redfin. The roughly 929,000 buyers recorded represented the lowest number in data going back to 2013, while the number of sellers was the highest since 2020.
Homeowners forced to delay major plans
Liz Suder, 56, spent more than a year waiting to sell her four-bedroom home in Murphy, Texas, so she could move into a smaller property after her three children left home.
She first listed the house for $750,000 in April 2025, but removed it from the market six months later after several price reductions failed to attract a buyer. It was relisted at $725,000 in February and eventually sold for $650,000, with Suder agreeing to contribute $9,000 towards repairs.
“I never expected it to take a full year, and for me to have to reduce the price by that much,” said Suder, a finance director who had owned the property for 21 years.
Rick Ganga, 58, has also been unable to move forward with plans to transfer to another state with his company. His three-bedroom home in Blaine, Washington, was listed for $825,000 on June 1 and later reduced to just under $800,000.
The property has attracted several viewings but no offers. Ganga said other sellers nearby had reduced their prices by $100,000 or more, but he did not have enough equity after buying the home in 2022 to make a similar cut.
“There’s been no offers, virtually zero traffic,” said Ganga, an operations manager. He expects the property could remain unsold until spring or summer next year.
Ethan Butner is facing a similar delay in Troutdale, Oregon, where he needs to sell his current home before moving into a larger property near Portland for his family.
The two-bedroom house has been on the market for more than two months at $480,000. Butner reduced the asking price by $30,000, but the only offer received subsequently fell through.
He has installed a new hot water heater and dishwasher and replaced the flooring in an effort to attract buyers, but said the uncertainty had left his family feeling unable to proceed with their plans.
