- Many home sellers are struggling in today’s housing market, as shown by delistings skyrocketing 47% year-over-year in June. Sellers are pulling their homes off the market after failing to get their desired price. Experts suggest delisting is not necessarily a sign of desperation but rather a strategic move.
During the past couple of years, housing market woes have largely been felt by potential buyers. But they’re not the only ones struggling in today’s brutal housing market.
Many sellers have been disappointed to see the market working against them after betting they’ll see a nice chunk of change in parting with their homes. Now, fed up with failing to find a buyer willing to pay their price, many sellers are pulling their homes from the market altogether, according to a July 8 Realtor.com report.
Delistings—or taking a home off the market—jumped 47% nationally in June from a year ago, the report shows, and year-to-date, delistings are up 34%.
“What we’re seeing nationally is a market that’s gradually rebalancing, with buyers gaining leverage and sellers facing a tradeoff: Adjust to the market and sell for less, or hold out and risk sitting indefinitely,” Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel told Fortune. “Many sellers still aren’t pricing to sell.”
The massive jump in delistings is partly due to increased active inventory, which was up 29% year-over-year in June. With more homes on the market, there’s less incentive for buyers to pay a premium. Krimmel gave Nashville as an example, where inventory is up 37% year-over-year, but price per square foot has dropped 2%.
“As a result, homes are sitting on the market nearly three weeks longer than last year,” Krimmel said. “That’s a sign of sellers still anchored to pandemic-era prices even though the market is telling them otherwise.”
Anthony Djon, founder of Anthony Djon Luxury Real Estate in Detroit, said delistings have become noticeably more common, especially for sellers who initially priced their homes too high.
“It’s a clear signal that buyers are holding more of the power right now, especially with inventory climbing and [mortgage] rates staying elevated,” Djon told Fortune.
How to know if you priced your home too high
One of the main reasons a buyer decides to pull a listing entirely is because it was priced too high originally and they don’t believe they’ll get the money and equity they deserve.
Krimmel said “there’s no hard and fast rule” for what qualifies as an unrealistic asking price, “but if a home is priced too high today, the market will surely let you know.”
The signals of overpricing are clear, Krimmel said, which could be if your home sits without showings, receives little interest, or only attracts low offers. He suggests sellers who are worried about mispricing look at local data and see what homes of a similar size are selling for and how long they’ve been on the market.
“Those are your clearest indicators of whether your home is priced to move—or priced to wait,” Krimmel said.
Typically, sellers ultimately decide to delist a property after they’ve dropped the price once or twice with few bites from potential buyers, Djon said. This would be factors like no showings, no offers, or limited activity on listings.
There’s also a psychological point where sellers feel further price drops could devalue their home in the buyers’ eyes.
“And they’re not wrong,” Djon said. “Sometimes stepping back and relaunching with the right strategy makes more sense than continuing to chase the market down.”
He suggested using the time after a delisting as time to re-strategize, not just use it as downtime. This could mean looking for a new agent.
“Often, the issue isn’t the house—it’s how it’s being presented,” Djon said.
Krimmel also said delisting can be a solid choice for sellers since many homeowners today are sitting on record equity and are locked in on ultra-low mortgage rates.
“That gives them the flexibility to wait—this isn’t 2008 or distressed seller territory,” Krimmel said. “Delisting seems to be a strategy, not a sign of desperation.”
