Home Relistings Surge to Highest Level Since 2016 as Spring Housing Market Approaches

Nearly 45,000 previously delisted homes returned to the market in January, reflecting shifting dynamics between buyers and sellers.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

A growing number of U.S. homeowners who previously pulled their properties off the market are relisting them ahead of the spring homebuying season, pushing relisting activity to its highest level in nearly a decade.

According to a March 5 report from Redfin, nearly 45,000 homes that were delisted during 2025 were relisted in January. The figure represents the highest number of relistings since the company began tracking the data in 2016.

The surge follows a year in which sellers increasingly withdrew listings as housing demand softened and buyers gained greater negotiating leverage. Delistings reached a record high in December, when 112,788 homes were removed from the market.

Homes returning to the market at the start of the year accounted for about 3.6 percent of all available listings nationwide.

“Many sellers who pulled their homes off the market last year are relisting now in hopes of capitalizing on spring homebuying season,” Redfin real estate agent Andrew Vallejo of Austin, Texas, said in the report.

Market analysts say the relisting trend reflects a housing environment where sellers must increasingly compete for buyers who remain cautious despite improvements in mortgage rates.

Redfin senior economist Asad Khan said buyers are likely to continue negotiating aggressively as homes reappear on the market.

“Some sellers will be more flexible on price when they relist since they’ve already been burned once,” Khan said. “Buyers shouldn’t be shy about asking for concessions. Even if the list price is high on paper, the seller may be open to negotiating.”

The report found that approximately one-third of homes relisted in January returned to the market at a lower asking price than their previous listing.

Redfin agent W.J. Eulberg of Milwaukee warned that attempting to relist a home at a higher price after earlier price reductions could backfire.

“If you delisted your home last year after cutting the price from $550,000 to $525,000, don’t try to relist it now at $550,000,” Eulberg said in the report. “Buyers are savvy. They know how long your home has been on the market: how many times it has been delisted and relisted, and your original asking price.”

Among major metropolitan housing markets, Northern California recorded the highest concentration of relisted homes.

In San Jose, where the median single-family home price stood at $1.26 million in January, 257 previously delisted homes returned to the market. That total represented 12.5 percent of all homes for sale in the city, the highest share among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.

San Francisco followed with relistings accounting for 11.4 percent of listings, while Oakland recorded a 10.2 percent share. Seattle and Denver also saw elevated levels, with relisted homes representing 8.3 percent and 7.4 percent of their respective housing markets.

Pittsburgh reported the lowest relisting share among the largest metro areas, with just 132 homes returning to the market—approximately 1.7 percent of its available listings.

In a separate report released the same day, Redfin indicated that despite lower mortgage rates and modest declines in monthly housing payments, many potential buyers remain hesitant due to high home prices and broader economic uncertainty.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 5.98 percent last week, the lowest level in more than three years. Rates rose slightly this week to around 6 percent but remain well below the 6.76 percent recorded a year earlier.

The median monthly housing payment declined 2.8 percent year over year to $2,591 during the four-week period ending March 1, according to Redfin data.

Even with those improvements, home prices continue to rise modestly. The national median home price increased 1 percent from a year earlier to $381,750.

Redfin head of economics Chen Zhao said geopolitical developments could also influence housing demand.

“The war could make some would-be buyers think twice, much in the same way economic and global uncertainty have been turning off buyers for the last year, and it’s likely to cause short-term volatility in mortgage rates,” Zhao said.

Additional housing market data released March 5 by Realtor.com showed inventory continuing to increase year over year, marking the twenty-eighth consecutive month of annual growth in available listings.

“Inventory has improved for more than two years, but the momentum has faltered in recent months,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in the report.

“As we move toward the spring buying season with mortgage rates near three and a half year lows, a key question is whether this thaw spurs more buyers or more sellers.”

Hale noted that most of the increase in housing supply has occurred in the South and West, particularly among homes priced below $500,000. Inventory gains in the Northeast and Midwest have been more modest.

As of February, active listings across the United States rose 7.9 percent compared with the previous year, reaching approximately 914,860 homes available for sale. Just over 7 percent of listings resulted in canceled contracts, slightly below levels recorded during the same period in 2025.

An analysis of the country’s 50 largest metropolitan housing markets found that Seattle recorded the largest inventory increase, with listings rising 38.5 percent. Louisville, Kentucky saw inventory climb 27.3 percent, while San Jose experienced nearly a 25 percent increase in available homes.

By contrast, Hartford, Connecticut recorded the steepest inventory decline at more than 82 percent, followed by Providence, Rhode Island, where listings fell by 61.1 percent.

Homes nationwide spent a median of 70 days on the market in February, four days longer than the same period last year.

Housing analysts say the spring buying season is likely to reflect a transitional phase in the market, with more homes becoming available but demand continuing to adjust to economic conditions and affordability constraints.