US Pending Home Sales Dip By 3.4 Percent to ‘Lowest Level on Record': Report
A total of 89,132 pending sales were recorded for the period, which is the 'lowest level on record for this time of year aside from 2020,' the company said.
Pending home sales refer to sales contracts that have been signed, but the transaction has not been completed. It acts as a barometer for the future performance of the housing market.
Redfin attributed the decline in pending sales to rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates, with these factors pushing up the median monthly housing payment to $2,860, only $6 short of the record high.
The median sales price of a home for the four weeks ending May 11 was $390,998, up 1.8 percent year over year. Meanwhile, the average weekly
Meme Loggins, a Redfin agent in Portland, Oregon, said there is a 'lot of doubt and hesitation' among prospective buyers.
Related Stories
5/12/2025
5/11/2025
'People are starting their home search, then backing out because they either talked to their lender and realized how high their monthly payments would be, or they're feeling jittery about tariffs, a potential recession, and/or the possibility of getting laid off,' Loggins said.
'One smart strategy I'm seeing among the people who are buying right now: They're looking for condos or small houses to lower their monthly payments and simplify their lives. And a smart strategy for sellers is offering mortgage rate buydowns to pique buyers' interest.'
A mortgage rate buydown involves offering an upfront fee to lenders to lock in lower interest rates temporarily or permanently.
According to a May 15
Potential buyers are waiting on the sidelines, seeking more clarity regarding the economic situation, it said. Meanwhile, sellers are returning to the market.
Inventory is rising, with 1.2 million homes for sale in April, up by nearly 20 percent from a year ago.
'Sellers are increasingly using price cuts to bridge the gap to buyers. Nearly 25 percent of listings on Zillow received a price cut in April, a record-high for this time of year in data that reaches back through 2018. Home values are rising at a more moderate pace than previous April cycles,' the report said.
Builder Sentiment
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell in May, with the NAHB Housing Market Index falling to 34, down six points from the previous month.
'The spring home buying season has gotten off to a slow start as persistent elevated interest rates, policy uncertainty, and building material cost factors hurt builder sentiment in May,' said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes.
'However, the overwhelming majority of survey responses came before the tariff reduction announcement with China. Builders expect future trade negotiations and progress on tax policy will help stabilize the economic outlook and strengthen housing demand.'
Both the United States and China recently
Meanwhile, any significant jump in home buying activity could require mortgage rates to come down significantly so that monthly payments become more affordable.
A major decline in mortgage rates may only happen if the Federal Reserve lowers its benchmark interest rate significantly.
However, in the most recent May meeting, Fed officials kept interest rates
President Donald Trump has been pushing for cutting down Fed rates. While speaking to reporters on May 8, Trump
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Zillow updates home price forecast for over 400 housing markets: See the map
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert's ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. How to go from quiet to commanding Apple iOS 26 is now available to the public. Here's how to get it—and 5 useful new features to try Here's why Trump's proposed 401(k) executive order may be very bad news for your retirement This week, Zillow economists published their updated 12-month forecast, projecting that U.S. home prices—as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index—will fall by 1.0% between June 2025 and June 2026. For calendar year 2025, they forecast U.S. home prices, as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index, will fall -2.0%. Heading into 2025, Zillow's 12-month forecast for U.S. home prices was +2.6%. However, many housing markets across the country softened faster than expected, prompting Zillow to issue several downward revisions. While Zillow has since stopped cutting its outlook, it is still kind of bearish. At least over the short-term. Why did Zillow downgrade its forecast for national home prices so many times this year? 'The rise in [active] listings is fueling softer [home] price growth, as greater supply provides more options and more bargaining power for buyers,' Zillow economists wrote in March. 'Potential buyers are opting to remain renters for longer as affordability challenges suppress demand for home purchases.' Essentially, Zillow believes that strained housing affordability—driven by U.S. home prices soaring over 40% during the Pandemic Housing Boom and mortgage rates jumping from 3% to 6% in 2022—is putting upward pressure on active inventory growth and short-term downward pressure on home price growth. 'Sellers have been motivated to join the market through the first half of the year, but buyer demand hasn't kept up. With housing inventory accumulating, Zillow forecasts home values will decline by 2.0% in [calendar year] 2025,' wrote Zillow economists on Wednesday. 'Slightly lower mortgage rates toward the end of the year could further aid affordability, but significant improvements appear unlikely. Still, home shoppers have some advantages–plenty of options have given them more bargaining power than in any summer in at least seven years.' According to Zillow's home price model, the listing site also believes that weakening and softening housing markets across the Sun Belt will weigh on nationally aggregated home prices this year. Among the 300 largest U.S. metro area housing markets, Zillow expects the strongest home price appreciation between June 2025 and June 2026 to occur in these 10 areas: Atlantic City, NJ → 2.9% Kingston, NY → 2.2% Knoxville, TN → 2.0% Torrington, CT → 1.9% Rockford, IL → 1.7% Concord, NH → 1.7% Pottsville, PA → 1.7% Fayetteville, AR → 1.6% Norwich, CT → 1.6% East Stroudsburg, PA → 1.5% Among the 300 largest U.S. metro area housing markets, Zillow expects the weakest home price appreciation between April 2025 and April 2026 to occur in these 10 areas: Houma, LA → -9.6 Lake Charles, LA → -9.5% Alexandria, LA → -8.0% New Orleans, LA → -7.2% Lafayette, LA → -7.0% Shreveport, LA → -6.9% Beaumont, TX → -6.5% San Francisco, CA → -6.1% Austin, TX → -5.1% Corpus Christi, TX → -5.0 Below is what the current year-over-year rate of home price growth looks like for single-family and condo home prices. The Sun Belt, in particular Southwest Florida, is currently the epicenter of housing market weakness right now. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Zillow updates home price forecast for over 400 housing markets: See the map
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert's ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. How to go from quiet to commanding Apple iOS 26 is now available to the public. Here's how to get it—and 5 useful new features to try Here's why Trump's proposed 401(k) executive order may be very bad news for your retirement This week, Zillow economists published their updated 12-month forecast, projecting that U.S. home prices—as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index—will fall by 1.0% between June 2025 and June 2026. For calendar year 2025, they forecast U.S. home prices, as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index, will fall -2.0%. Heading into 2025, Zillow's 12-month forecast for U.S. home prices was +2.6%. However, many housing markets across the country softened faster than expected, prompting Zillow to issue several downward revisions. While Zillow has since stopped cutting its outlook, it is still kind of bearish. At least over the short-term. Why did Zillow downgrade its forecast for national home prices so many times this year? 'The rise in [active] listings is fueling softer [home] price growth, as greater supply provides more options and more bargaining power for buyers,' Zillow economists wrote in March. 'Potential buyers are opting to remain renters for longer as affordability challenges suppress demand for home purchases.' Essentially, Zillow believes that strained housing affordability—driven by U.S. home prices soaring over 40% during the Pandemic Housing Boom and mortgage rates jumping from 3% to 6% in 2022—is putting upward pressure on active inventory growth and short-term downward pressure on home price growth. 'Sellers have been motivated to join the market through the first half of the year, but buyer demand hasn't kept up. With housing inventory accumulating, Zillow forecasts home values will decline by 2.0% in [calendar year] 2025,' wrote Zillow economists on Wednesday. 'Slightly lower mortgage rates toward the end of the year could further aid affordability, but significant improvements appear unlikely. Still, home shoppers have some advantages–plenty of options have given them more bargaining power than in any summer in at least seven years.' According to Zillow's home price model, the listing site also believes that weakening and softening housing markets across the Sun Belt will weigh on nationally aggregated home prices this year. Among the 300 largest U.S. metro area housing markets, Zillow expects the strongest home price appreciation between June 2025 and June 2026 to occur in these 10 areas: Atlantic City, NJ → 2.9% Kingston, NY → 2.2% Knoxville, TN → 2.0% Torrington, CT → 1.9% Rockford, IL → 1.7% Concord, NH → 1.7% Pottsville, PA → 1.7% Fayetteville, AR → 1.6% Norwich, CT → 1.6% East Stroudsburg, PA → 1.5% Among the 300 largest U.S. metro area housing markets, Zillow expects the weakest home price appreciation between April 2025 and April 2026 to occur in these 10 areas: Houma, LA → -9.6 Lake Charles, LA → -9.5% Alexandria, LA → -8.0% New Orleans, LA → -7.2% Lafayette, LA → -7.0% Shreveport, LA → -6.9% Beaumont, TX → -6.5% San Francisco, CA → -6.1% Austin, TX → -5.1% Corpus Christi, TX → -5.0 Below is what the current year-over-year rate of home price growth looks like for single-family and condo home prices. The Sun Belt, in particular Southwest Florida, is currently the epicenter of housing market weakness right now. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Canceled home sales surge as fed-up buyers and sellers walk away
As homebuyers and sellers remain locked in a standoff, more and more are deciding it's easiest to just walk away when negotiations falter in today's stuck-in-place housing market. Buyers, many of whom are struggling to afford record-high home prices but feeling emboldened by having more inventory to choose from, are proving increasingly willing to end contract negotiations when they disagree with sellers over things like presale repairs. Read more: Why are home prices so high right now? A portion of sellers, meanwhile, have hefty equity positions and low mortgage rates that leave them in no rush to move. When contract negotiations hit roadblocks or they can't get the price they want, many sellers simply pull their homes off the market. These impasses have driven canceled deals and pulled listings to their highest levels in years, helping to keep home sales muted this spring. Sales of existing homes slumped to a seasonally adjusted average annual rate of 3.93 million in June, new National Association of Realtors data shows, a nine-month low in what's typically the housing market's busiest season. Last month, 57,000 deals — 15% of all homes that went under contract — fell through, the highest share of canceled deals in June going back to 2017, according to Redfin. The brokerage cited factors like financially stretched buyers and ongoing economic uncertainty for the spike. Delistings, where sellers take their homes off the market without a sale, are also on the rise. They jumped 47% in May from a year ago, outpacing recent inventory gains, according to This move suggests that many sellers would rather stay put than adjust to current market dynamics. Repair face-offs In Louisville, Ky., Realtor Bob Sokoler has seen more deals fall apart as those sellers who can 'afford to wait it out' butt heads with leery buyers stretched thin by high prices and mortgage rates near 7%. 'There are a lot of unrealistic expectations,' Sokoler said. Recently, he's struggling to save a sale that stalled in contract negotiations over roof repairs. After his sellers cut their price and accepted an offer of $315,000 on their home, the buyers said they'd need a new roof to close the deal. When an inspection revealed a few popped nails — a minor repair — on a roof with seven to 10 years of life left, the sellers said no. Neither side wants to budge. Without a new roof, the buyers are threatening to walk away, but the sellers' final offer is a $1,000 credit for fixes, far from the $10,000 or more a replacement typically costs. 'We're stuck in a quandary here,' Sokoler said. The jump in scuttled deals reflects a clear difference between two types of sellers in today's market, said Danielle Hale, chief economist at One group is highly motivated to move and willing to make price cuts and other buyer concessions to secure a sale. But the other is comprised of holdouts who are able to wait if market prices don't meet their expectations. 'Both positions are reasonable,' Hale said. 'It just depends on your personal situation, what you need from your housing situation, and what's driving your motivation to move.' Sign up for the Mind Your Money weekly newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy While the spike in delistings is significant, more sellers are proving willing to make price cuts to get a deal done than exit the market altogether. Even at today's higher levels, delistings make up a single-digit percentage of active inventory. Price cuts are much more common, with more than 20% of listings taking one in June. Read more: Ask a real estate agent — Is the housing market less competitive now? Sunbelt spikes Canceled deals and delistings tend to be most prominent in parts of the country where buyers have more leverage due to higher inventory levels. In June, Jacksonville, Fla., led the nation in contract cancellations, with 21.4% of deals falling through, according to Redfin data. Phoenix, Miami, and Riverside, Calif., meanwhile, had the highest levels of delistings relative to new listings in May. In Phoenix, 30 homes are delisted for every 100 new homes that come to market. All three cities also rank in the top 10 nationwide for contract cancellations and saw 18% or more of deals fall out of contract last month. As more sales fail to reach the finish line, Mark Hiller, a Realtor in Niceville, Fla., is getting pickier about the sellers he's willing to represent. Home prices in Florida's panhandle, where he works, are down around 7% from their early 2022 peak, but the decline was gradual and uneven across different cities and price points. Some sellers still aren't aware and want to test the market by listing at top dollar. 'This isn't the market to do that,' Hiller said. 'I've said no to more listings this year than I have in the past five years.' He's looking for listings from sellers with strong motivation to move, like service members being deployed from the area's multiple military bases or sellers seeking more space for a growing family or a smaller house after a divorce or a spouse's death. Even cities that have long had hot housing markets are showing some signs of shifting now. Craig Harris was prepared for a quick sale when he listed his condominium in Grand Rapids, Mich., in April. Like many Midwestern cities, Grand Rapids has spent years in a seller's market, and he'd previously sold a condo after garnering multiple offers in under 24 hours. But this time, his unit sat. One prospective buyer expressed early interest but backed out, and a small price reduction garnered a few more showings but no offers. After six weeks, Harris, 32, took it off the market rather than cut the price further. He'd like to relocate to a different neighborhood on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, but doesn't have an immediate need to make the move. He and his real estate agent are trying to piece together when and why the market turned. Their theories include higher mortgage rates, tariff and economic jitters, and a growing buyer wariness toward condo fees, though his are relatively low at about $200 a month. 'I've kind of just resigned to the fact that I will stay in this condo for as long as it makes sense to, financially and economically,' Harris said. 'Whether that's another year or another three years, I think that's just up to what the market decides.' Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter
