Sellers appear to be getting the message this spring: Buyers are still out there, but the numbers have to work.
The national median list price fell to $429,500 in May, down 2.4% from a year earlier, according to Realtor.com. That was the seventh straight month of year-over-year price declines and the largest annual drop in Realtor.com data going back to 2017. Price per square foot was also down, falling 2.5% year over year.
Falling list prices and growing stock
Buyers have not disappeared in response to higher rates, but they do seem to be responding to better pricing. Realtor.com reported that the stock of pending listings rose 4.3% year over year in May, the sixth straight month of annual growth. The flow of new contract signings was also up 2.6% from a year earlier.
What makes the shift notable is that price cuts are not rising along with the lower asking prices. In May, 17.5% of listings had a price cut, down 1.6 percentage points from last year. That suggests more sellers are adjusting before they list, rather than testing a higher price and backing down later.
Mortgage rates are still putting pressure on the market. Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.53% as of May 28, up slightly from the prior week. But when homes are priced closer to what buyers can absorb, more of them are still willing to move.
