Active Inventory Grows as Sellers Keep Homes on the Market: Realtor.com® October Housing Report

New listings fell 7.5% year over year, but delistings stayed near last year's rate and the share of listings with price cuts just ahead of September.

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sellers brought fewer homes to market in October, but those already listed showed little sign of a broad retreat, according to the Realtor.com October monthly housing report. New listings fell 7.5% year over year, the steepest decline of 2026, while 4.4% of active listings were delisted, compared with 4.6% a year earlier. The preliminary share of listings with price cuts was 20.5%, just 0.2 percentage points above last year and down from September. Meanwhile, the number of homes under contract fell 10.5% year over year, the greatest decline in nearly three years, as buyers pulled back.

"The market is cooling on both sides, but in different ways. Buyers are stepping back as higher mortgage rates cut into their buying power, while sellers are listing less often without a broad increase in delistings or price cuts," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com^®. "We're seeing a pause in new supply, but owners who already have homes on the market appear to be largely unphased."

The national median list price was $415,000 in October, down 2.2% from a year earlier and marking the 12th consecutive month of annual declines. Active inventory grew for a fourth straight month, bringing the national supply gap to 6.7% below typical pre-pandemic levels — the narrowest gap since the pandemic.

September
2026
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October

2025
(YoY)

over

October

2019

October

2022

Buyers Pull Back as Supply Builds

The stock of homes under contract fell 10.5% year over year for a third consecutive monthly decline, the steepest annual drop since October 2023. Thirty-year mortgage rates averaged 7.33% in October, 110 basis points above a year earlier, putting added pressure on buyers' purchasing power.

At the same time, 357,000 new listings came to market, down 7.5% from October 2025. Despite fewer new listings, active inventory reached 1,183,500 homes, up 7.4% year over year — the fastest annual growth in eight months. The year-over-year acceleration partly reflects a slower inventory comparison last fall; active listings have also risen each month since February. National inventory is now 6.6% below typical pre-pandemic levels, the narrowest gap since the pandemic.

Sellers Hit Pause, Not the Exit

Sellers did not respond to weaker demand with a broad wave of withdrawals. The number of delisted homes rose 3.5% year over year, but the delisting rate — delistings as a share of active listings — held at 4.4%, compared with 4.6% a year earlier. The rate ticked up from about 4.0% in September, in line with the typical seasonal rise into fall.

Price cuts remained common, but their share eased from September. 20.5% of active listings saw their prices reduced in October, down 0.3 percentage points from the prior month and 0.2 points above a year earlier. The October share was the highest for the month since 2022 and the second-highest of 2026.

"Rates eased to 7.24% on Oct. 29, down from 7.40% in mid-October, but they remained 107 basis points above a year ago and 53 basis points above early September. That loss of purchasing power is showing up first in demand: the stock of homes under contract is down over 10% year over year, while the rate of contract signings fell 17% year over year," said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com^®.

As the market moves into the holiday months, the balance between inventory and prices will be an important test. More homes for sale and slower sales can increase supply, but if sellers do not make deeper price cuts, buyers may not gain as much ground as inventory growth alone suggests.

"On the seller side, we see more of a pause than an exodus," said Krimmel. "New listings are down at a time of year when activity is already seasonally low, but the share of listings with price cuts is only 0.2 percentage points above last year and slipped from September. We also haven't seen a meaningful increase in delistings. As we approach the holidays, a seller pulling a listing around Halloween or Thanksgiving is not necessarily showing the same distress as one who exits in midsummer."

October 2026 National and Regional Housing Overview

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on Market,

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October 2026 Top 50 Metros Housing Overview

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Methodology
Realtor.com housing data as of October 2026. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/row homes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com. Realtor.com data history goes back to July 2016. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB-202301) and Claritas 2025 estimates of household counts.

Beginning with our April 2025 report, we have transitioned to a revised national pending home sales data series that applies enhanced cleaning methods to improve consistency and accuracy over time. While the insights and commentary in this report reflect the new series, the downloadable data remains based on our legacy automated pipeline. As a result, there may be slight differences between the report figures and those in the national download file as we transition.

With the release of its January 2025 housing trends report, Realtor.com restated data points for some previous months. As a result of these changes, some of the data released since January 2025 will not be directly comparable with previous data releases (files downloaded before January 2025) and Realtor.com economics research reports.

About Realtor.com^®
For over 30 years, Realtor.com^® has connected buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 real estate site REALTOR® agents recommend, Realtor.com® delivers consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com^® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.

Media Contact: Mallory Micetich, press@realtor.com

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SOURCE Realtor.com