--- title: Nobody Is Buying Homes Right Now description: U.S. home sales are down in 2025, even with more homes on the market. Factors like mortgage rates and affordability are shaping the trend. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Housing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-02-14T14:43:47.000Z' modified: '2025-02-14T14:43:47.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 497 canonical: https://money.com/nobody-is-buying-homes-right-now/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Cardboard house with for sale sign falling apart](https://img.money.com/2025/02/News-Nobody-Buying-Houses.jpg) Homeowners who locked in ultra-low mortgage rates during the pandemic are finally ready to sell. But given staggering home prices and interest rates, Americans aren’t really in the mood to buy right now. Pending home sales in January hit the lowest level on record at the real estate firm Redfin, aside from a one-month dip in April 2020 when pandemic-era lockdowns ground the economy to a halt. (Redfin’s data dates back to 2012.) This drop in sales activity is in spite of a wave of new home listings, although supply is still far below pre-pandemic norms. Redfin experts say this trend shows that homeowners who bought their homes or [refinanced their mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-refinance/) during the pandemic — when rates were at an [abnormally low 3% to 4%](https://money.com/mortgage-rates-3-percent/) — are at last starting to sell. This so-called “lock-in” effect, which for years has contributed to a limited supply of homes on the market and elevated prices, is starting to fade. “I’m seeing a lot more inventory hit the market than I have in past years, but it’s not nearly enough,” Charles Wheeler, a Redfin real estate agent in San Diego, [said in the report](https://investors.redfin.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1269/redfin-reports-housing-supply-hits-highest-level-since). ## Why homes aren’t selling right now Normally, when a glut of houses come onto the market, that would be great news for would-be homebuyers. With [mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) lingering around 7% and the typical sales price clocking in over $418,000, homebuyers just aren’t feeling all that excited. That one-two punch is keeping many buyers on the side lines. As a result, homes are sitting on the market for nearly two months, according to Redfin, notching a five-year high. Of course, the colder months are usually slow to begin with for the housing market. But this January was particularly sluggish, with many buyers seemingly getting cold feet and backing out. Redfin estimates about 41,000 home-purchase agreements fell through last month. That equates to over 14% of all sales contracts — making for the worst January since 2017. Still, for homebuyers willing to brave the housing market, some deals are out there. “Buyers should know that they have a bit more negotiating power because there are more homes hitting the market,” Wheeler said. Separate [data from Zillow](https://www.zillow.com/research/january-2025-market-report-34804/) backs Wheeler up. Last month, the firm said, buyers had more negotiating power than in any January over the past five years. And sellers seem more than willing to budge on price. According to Zillow, 23% of sellers slashed their asking prices last month, the highest level on record for January since the firm began tracking that rate in 2018. Some more good news: The share of homes with price cuts is much higher in certain markets, including some popular ones. For now, price cuts are most common in Phoenix (33.5%); Tampa, Florida (32.4%); Jacksonville, Florida (30.8%); Orlando, Florida (29.1%) and Dallas (28.7%). ## Buy your new home with more convenience and less hassle ### A Mortgage Expert at Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) can lend you a hand for a smoother process. Your dream home is possible. Click below to make it happen. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/u918d32af718?ap_referrer=%2Fnobody-is-buying-homes-right-now%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26681/medium_57f09f10-efb8-487d-a73e-5f7d605144eb.png) Imagine finally owning your dream home — Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) can help! 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