HomeHelpersAlliance.com

A Market Stuck in Limbo

Across the U.S., a stagnant housing market has many sellers stuck, unable to relocate for work or upsize for a growing family.

Sellers who can pull their listings are generally doing so.

Sellers now easily outnumber buyers, which forces a tough choice.

Earlier this decade, rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a buying frenzy, and sellers often got well above asking price.

That picture looks very different today.

Realtor.com's September 2026 report points to a market tilting toward buyers.

20.8% of active listings had a price cut, the highest share Realtor.com has recorded for any September.
The national median list price was $419,250, the 11th straight month of annual declines.
An estimated 5.6% of homes were delisted in September, in line with a year earlier.

Price cuts have become sellers' more visible move this fall.

Realtor.com's chief economist said buyers are gaining leverage, but higher mortgage rates limit how much of it they can use.

Those higher rates are also letting buyers ask sellers for money to buy down their rate, either for a few years or for the life of the loan.

Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel described sellers as doing more to meet buyers halfway.

In one case, a seller lowered the price several times, and after six months the home still hadn't sold.

The seller, identified as Suder, even put $9,000 toward repairs.

In another case, dropping the price to just under $800,000 didn't help.

Realtor.com economists will track whether price cuts lead to more signed contracts and whether more sellers start delisting.