Housing Market Feels the Chill as Buyers Pull Back—but Sellers Are Not Panicking Yet

The national housing market is feeling the chill as high borrowing costs are forcing frustrated buyers to throw in the towel, yet sellers are largely digging in to wait out the slump.

Two key metrics—price cuts and delistings—tell the story of American home sellers' resilience in the face of adversity this fall.

Across the U.S., about 4.4% of active listings were pulled off the market in October, down from 4.6% a year ago, according to the latest Realtor.com® monthly housing market trends report released on Wednesday.

On a monthly basis, the delisting rate has ticked up slightly from 4% in September, in line with typical seasonal trends, but no more than that, even with mortgage rates well exceeding 7% and buyer demand waning.

According to Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel, delistings matter because they act as a canary in the coal mine. A jump in the delistings rate could be a sign of a housing market in distress.

However, the October findings show that sellers are not ready to take their ball and go home yet.

"Job relocations, family circumstances, and financial challenges are among the top reasons I am seeing sellers stay on the market rather than withdraw and wait until spring," Josh Stimpson, a real estate agent at The Realtive Group of Reliant Realty in Nashville, TN, tells Realtor.com. "The rising cost of living is also a major factor, prompting many sellers to seek more affordable housing."

Price cuts plateau

The other key data point used to assess the strength of the U.S. housing market is price cuts.

According to the latest housing market data, much like with delistings, there has not been a dramatic change up or down in the share of listings offering discounts, although it remained elevated.

For the fourth consecutive month, more than 1 in 5 active listings (20.5%) saw a price cut, marking the highest October reading since 2022 and the second highest this year, trailing only September, which set a four-year record.

However, Krimmel points out that the national price cut rate actually retreated 0.3 percentage points month over month, snapping a nine-month streak of monthly gains. Annually, the share of active listings with price cuts ticked up by just 0.2 percentage points.

Sellers "are getting used to not everything selling quickly," Learka Bosnak, an agent with of Heather & Learka Team at Douglas Elliman in Beverly Hills, CA, tells Realtor.com. "They aren’t seeing compelling evidence that a slightly lower price will lead to a quick sale. Plus, they aren't feeling a lot of pressure monthly because so many have low-interest-rate mortgages."

A pause, not a panic

A pause, not a panic

Taken together, the October delisting and price cut readouts lead to one conclusion concerning the present state of the market.

"Right now, it looks more like a seller pause than an exodus," says Krimmel. "Sellers are disengaging rather than showing signs of distress."

Regionally, price reductions remained least common in the systemically undersupplied Northeast (16.8% of listings) and most common in the West (21.9%), with the Midwest and South falling in between at 21% each.

Across the 50 largest metro markets, 12 saw price cuts on a quarter or more of the listings, unchanged from September. Thirty-four of the metros are running above their year-ago cut rate, down from 36 in September.

At the local level, price discounts in October were most common in Indianapolis (31.8%), Denver (31.3%), and Portland, OR (31.1%).

While the delisting and price cut numbers stop short of signaling a panic among sellers, October trends do point to a noticeable pullback.

New listings and pending sales slump

New listings—a measure of homeowners putting their properties on the market—dropped 9.5% from September and 7.5% from a year ago, marking the steepest decline in more than three years.

"Sellers know this is a poor time to list, and you do not list into weak demand unless you need to," notes Krimmel.

At the same time, pending sales plunged 10.5% year over year—the biggest annual drop since October 2023.

However, active listings jumped 7.4% year over year, topping 1.18 million homes for sale—the fourth consecutive month of accelerated growth. This reflects properties piling up on the market as buyers see their purchasing power diminished by surging 30-year mortgage rates, which averaged 7.33% in October.

For context, that is a staggering 107 basis points above October 2025 levels and 53 basis points higher than at the start of September.

"Elevated interest rates and ongoing affordability challenges have caused many buyers to pause, and the midterm election may be adding to that hesitation," notes Stimpson. "As a result, showing activity has declined and days on market are rising, particularly in Nashville and the surrounding areas."

Silver lining for buyers

However, patient buyers willing to stick it out can still find attractive deals and see their negotiating position strengthened.

"Buyers can often retain their inspection, appraisal, and financing contingencies while also requesting additional repairs, a longer closing period, or a home warranty," says Stimpson. "Properties with extended market exposure may offer even greater leverage, including opportunities to negotiate a lower purchase price or secure seller concessions."

Looking ahead to late fall and winter, the Nashville agent says there are some encouraging signs on the horizon, including gradually easing mortgage rates, closings holding steady in Middle Tennessee, and premium listings continuing to attract multiple offers.

Yet, both Stimpson and Bosnak agree that what the market sorely lacks is a sense of certainty.

"No one is sure what the market or the world will look like in a year, so it doesn’t feel weird to lean into that wait-and-see part of human nature," says the Beverly Hills agent.