Active Housing Inventory Increases as Sellers Keep Their Homes Listed
According to Realtor.com’s October monthly housing report, sellers brought fewer homes to market, but properties already listed showed little evidence of a widespread withdrawal. New listings dropped 7.5% year over year, the sharpest decrease of 2026, while delistings accounted for 4.4% of active listings, down from 4.6% a year earlier.
The preliminary share of listings with price reductions was 20.5%—just 0.2 percentage points higher than last year and lower than in September. Meanwhile, homes under contract declined 10.5% year-over-year, the steepest fall in nearly three years, as buyers pulled back.
The national median list price stood at $415,000 in October, down 2.2% from a year earlier and extending the annual decline to 12 consecutive months. Active inventory increased for the fourth month in a row, narrowing the national supply shortfall to 6.7% below typical pre-pandemic levels—the smallest gap since the pandemic.
“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,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com. “We’re seeing a pause in new supply, but owners who already have homes on the market appear to be largely unphased.”
| Metric | October 2026 |
Change over September 2026 (MoM) |
Change over October 2025 (YoY) |
Change over October 2019 | Change over October 2022 |
| Median listing price | $415,000 | -1.0 % | -2.2 % | 33.9 % | -2.4 % |
| Active listings | 1,183,500 | 1.9 % | 7.4 % | -2.1 % | 57.2 % |
| New listings | 357,000 | -9.5 % | -7.5 % | -16.3 % | -0.8 % |
| Median days on market | 63 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 13 |
| Price reductions | 20.5 % | -0.3 | 0.2 | 3.1 | -1.0 |
| Median List Price Per Sq.Ft. | $222 | -0.5 % | -1.5 % | 47.6 % | 1.5 % |
Home Sellers Halt as Many Buyers Pull Back
The number of homes under contract declined 10.5% year over year for the third month in a row, marking the sharpest annual drop since October 2023. In October, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 7.33%—110 basis points higher than a year earlier—adding to the strain on buyers’ purchasing power.
Meanwhile, 357,000 new listings entered the market, 7.5% fewer than in October 2025. Even with fewer new listings, active inventory climbed to 1,183,500 homes, a 7.4% annual increase and the fastest pace of growth in eight months. This acceleration partly reflects slower inventory growth during the same period last fall; active listings have also increased every month since February. Nationwide, inventory is now 6.6% below typical pre-pandemic levels, the smallest shortfall since the pandemic.
Sellers did not respond to softer demand with a widespread wave of withdrawals. The number of delisted homes increased 3.5% year-over-year, while the delisting rate—the share of active listings that were delisted—remained at 4.4%, versus 4.6% a year earlier. The rate rose from approximately 4.0% in September, consistent with the typical seasonal increase heading into fall. Price reductions remained widespread, though their share declined from September. In October, prices were cut on 20.5% of active listings, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month but up 0.2 points from a year earlier. This was the highest October share since 2022 and the second-highest reading of 2026.
October 2026 National and Regional Housing Overview
| Region | Active Listing Count (YoY) |
New Listing Count (YoY) |
Median List Price | Median List Price (YoY) |
Median List Price Per SF (YoY) |
Median Days on Market (YoY) (Days) |
Price Reduce Share | Price Reduce Share (YoY) (Percentage Points) |
| Northeast | 16.5 % | 0.6 % | $500,000 | -4.8 % | -1.4 % | 1 | 16.8 % | 2.2 |
| Midwest | 13.8 % | -4.8 % | $317,500 | 0.8 % | 1.7 % | 3 | 20.9 % | 0.6 |
| South | 3.8 % | -6.5 % | $375,000 | -2.6 % | -2.4 % | 1 | 21.0 % | -0.4 |
| West | 9.0 % | -10.8 % | $589,000 | -1.7 % | -1.1 % | 0 | 21.6 % | 0.0 |
| National Average | 7.4 % | -7.5 % | $415,000 | -2.2 % | -1.5 % | 1 | 20.5 % | 0.2 |
“Rates eased to 7.24% on Oct. 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,” said Jake Krimmel, Senior Economist at Realtor.com. “That loss of purchasing power is showing up first in demand: the stock of homes under contract is down over 10% year-over-year, while the rate of contract signings fell 17% year-over-year.”
As the market enters the holiday season, the relationship between inventory and prices will be closely tested. A larger number of homes for sale and slower sales may expand supply, but unless sellers reduce prices more substantially, buyers may gain less leverage than inventory growth alone would indicate.
“On the seller side, we see more of a pause than an exodus,” Krimmel said. “New listings are down at a time of year when activity is already seasonally low, but the share of listings with price cuts is only 0.2 percentage points above last year and slipped from September. 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.”
Note: Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/row homes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com. Realtor.com data history goes back to July 2016.
To read the full report, click here.
