The number of new real estate listings is down, but that isn’t cause for alarm—not yet, anyway.
In a new housing report for the month of October, Realtor.com found that sellers aren’t eager to list homes right now, but they’re not bailing out of the market altogether either. That said, the number of homes under contract in October dropped by 10.5% compared to one year prior, the biggest decline since late 2023.
“The market is cooling on both sides, but in different ways. Buyers are stepping back as higher mortgage rates cut into their buying power, while sellers are listing less often without a broad increase in delistings or price cuts,” Realtor.com ’s chief economist, Danielle Hale, said. “We’re seeing a pause in new supply, but owners who already have homes on the market appear to be largely [unfazed].”
New listings in October were down 7.5% compared with October 2025 and 16% compared with October 2019. At the same time, 4.4% of active listings were pulled from the market last month, a percentage of delistings that is actually a slight improvement over October of last year.
High interest rates are driving the market chill, with the 30-year mortgage average rate hovering around 7.33% last month. One in five listings experienced price cuts last month, compared with 3% in 2019, a sign that interest rates continue to shape market dynamics. October also marked the 12th straight decline for the national median list price, which fell 2.2% to $415,000.
“Rates eased to 7.24% on October 29, down from 7.40% in mid-October, but they remained 107 basis points above a year ago and 53 basis points above early September,” Realtor.com ’s senior economist, Jake Krimmel, said. “That loss of purchasing power is showing up first in demand.”
High rates weigh on buyers and sellers
In October, the real estate market was still defined by stubbornly high rates that cut into what many potential homebuyers can afford to pay for a monthly mortgage. Meanwhile, homeowners who bought a home from 2020 to mid-2022 are locked in to interest rates of 4% or lower —numbers that most of the real estate world doesn’t expect to see again anytime soon.
That dynamic creates a degree of gridlock in the market, as many homeowners are reluctant to give up low rates and are staying put. Given the market conditions, it’s clear that anyone opting to sell now likely doesn’t have much choice in the matter.
Homebuying slows down through the holiday season, but the coming months will still offer an “important test” of the balance between pricing and available inventory, Realtor.com observed in its monthly report. “On the seller side, we see more of a pause than an exodus,” Krimmel said. “. . . We also haven’t seen a meaningful increase in delistings. As we approach the holidays, a seller pulling a listing around Halloween or Thanksgiving is not necessarily showing the same distress as one who exits in midsummer.”
