Spring Home-Buying Season Ends Weakly

Seattle, WA, June 26, 2026—New listings of U.S. homes for sale fell 1.7% from a week earlier during the week ending June 21 to their lowest level since February, according to Redfin. The total number of homes for sale dipped 0.4% week over week, the biggest decline since the last week of April. This data is seasonally adjusted.

Prospective home sellers are backing off partly because they notice soft homebuying demand. Pending home sales fell 0.1% week over week, a small dip but the third straight week of slight declines from their May peak, and mortgage-purchase applications fell for the second straight week. But it’s worth noting that pending sales are holding up better than they were last year; they rose 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. 

Homebuying demand is sluggish because housing payments are stubbornly high. The median home-sale price is up 2.5% year over year to a record-high $408,814, and the weekly average mortgage rate is 6.47%. Elevated rates are another reason new listings are declining; many would-be sellers are also buyers who are locked into a low rate. Buyers are also jittery due to widespread economic uncertainty, stemming partly from inflation and the back-and-forth on Iran peace talks.

For buyers, there’s a silver lining to the slow market. It’s a buyer’s market in much of the country, with hundreds of thousands more home sellers than buyers, which means house hunters are often able to negotiate prices down. Nearly half of U.S. home sellers gave concessions to buyers in May, the highest share on record for that month.

“Home inspectors are busy. Buyers are regularly including inspection contingencies in their offers, which is one sign that they have the negotiating power; when sellers have power, buyers often waive the inspection,” said Ben Ambroch, a Redfin Premier agent in Milwaukee. “They’re requesting repairs and money based on the inspection, and sellers often need to give buyers what they ask for in order to close the deal. Of course, some homes are still competitive: The ones that are in the most desirable neighborhoods and in tip-top condition inspire bidding wars.”