Pending home sales in the United States dropped at their steepest pace since late 2023 in October, a shift that says signals buyers stepping back as sellers hold off on listing. Homes under contract were down 10.5 percent from a year earlier, while new listings also fell, pointing to a market that is stalling rather than simply cooling.
The latest monthly report shows active listings down 7.5 percent year over year and 16 percent below their 2019 levels. The company's analysis suggests that many homeowners are choosing to wait instead of selling, a pattern that has limited the supply available to buyers even as demand weakens. economists Danielle Hale and Jake Krimmel described the environment as one in which sellers are pausing and buyers are pulling back at the same time, and the company said that pattern is not the same as sellers exiting the market altogether.
Borrowing costs remain the central obstacle. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was about 7.33 percent in October, easing to 7.24 percent by October 29. That is still well above the level of a year earlier and far higher than the sub-4 percent rates many homeowners locked in between 2020 and 2022. Those owners have little financial incentive to trade cheap loans for new mortgages at current rates, which helps explain why fewer homes are reaching the market. The rate relief in late October was modest, and buyers who had been waiting for lower borrowing costs have not yet seen a decisive change.
Sellers who do list are facing a tougher pricing environment. About one in five listings saw a price cut in October, compared with roughly 3 percent in 2019, a gap that shows how much more room sellers now have to adjust asking prices. The national median list price fell 2.2 percent to $415,000, marking the 12th consecutive monthly decline. also reported that 4.4 percent of active listings were delisted, a slightly smaller share than in October 2025, suggesting that some sellers who pulled homes off the market have not yet returned.
The data point to a market that is shifting in buyers' favor on price while remaining constrained on supply and financing. said the coming months, including the holiday season, will test whether sellers can hold asking prices in line with the inventory they face, or whether further reductions will be needed to bring buyers back into contracts.