Current Real Estate Market
9/8/20251 min read
Real Estate Market Dynamics: Sluggish Sales, Rising Listings
Buyer’s Market Firms, Prices Plateau
Sales of existing homes are languishing at their lowest level in 30 years, prompting sellers—especially in the South and West—to slash asking prices by ~4%, offer incentives, or even withdraw listings altogether AP News.
The median home listing price sits at $439,450 (July data), still well above what many households can afford. However, rising active listings (now climbing for 21 straight months) are giving buyers more options and leverage AP News.
Rentals Outpacing Buying, for Now
Median rent in August fell to $1,400—a 0.9% drop year-over-year and the steepest since December 2023. In contrast, the median home price requires a monthly mortgage of around $3,243, making renting a more affordable short-term option for many Investopedia.
This rental relief coincides with a boom in multifamily construction—600,000+ new units in 2024 and over 243,000 by mid-2025—pushing vacancy rates up to 7.1%, the highest since 2017 Investopedia.
However, analysts warn this trend might reverse if construction slows, potentially tightening rental markets by 2026