U.S. Spring Home-Selling Season Off to Slow Start

Seattle, WA, March 20, 2026--U.S. homebuyers are taking their time heading into spring, which is usually the busy season for the housing market, reports Redfin.

The typical home that went under contract in February spent 66 days on the market. That’s the slowest February pace since 2016 and is up from 58 days a year earlier.

“House hunters have been waiting for mortgage rates to drop, and they finally fell below 6% a couple of weeks ago, which was great. One of our agents had a client lock in a 5.6% rate,” said Redfin senior economist Asad Khan.“But then rates bounced back. The war in Iran, skyrocketing gas prices and other economic jitters are making homebuyers nervous.” 

Economic uncertainty isn’t the only factor causing homebuyers to slow their roll. It’s a buyer’s market, with sellers outnumbering buyers by more than 40%. That means the buyers who are in the market have negotiating power and can afford to take their time.

The typical homebuyer in February paid 1.8% less than the final list price, the largest discount for this time of year since 2023. The median home sale price was $429,259, up 0.9% from a year earlier. While home prices continue to grow, this growth pales in comparison to the double-digit gains we saw during the pandemic homebuying frenzy.