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The dog days of summer have failed to boost a sluggish housing market weighed down by economic challenges, with inventory growth stalling as many fed-up sellers bow out.
The flat annual trends in both median listing prices and price per square foot signal an ongoing standoff between buyers and sellers, says Realtor.com® economist Jiayi Xu.
Here’s what’s been happening all summer: House hunters remain on the sidelines, hesitant to jump into the market because of still-high asking prices and elevated mortgage rates locked in the upper 6% range.
On Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.56%, down from 6.58% the week before, marking another 10-month low.
On the other hand, sellers have little motivation to bring new listings to the market in the face of anemic buyer demand, knowing that they will not get top dollar for their properties.
What’s more, some stubborn sellers are delisting their homes rather than cutting prices to attract buyers, instead opting for a wait-and-see approach in hopes of stronger demand ahead, potentially after the anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut in September.
According to Xu, sellers’ reluctance has prevented prices from falling more sharply, with the median asking price settling at $439,450 in July, as reflected in the latest available monthly housing market trends report from Realtor.com.
Home inventory growth slows down
New home listings saw a 2.7% year-over-year increase during the week ending Aug. 23, marking a slowdown compared to the previous week, when the annual growth rate was 4.9%.
Overall, the number of fresh homes hitting the market remains below the spring and early-summer norms.
“Homeowners are showing less urgency to list, as rising inventory and cautious buyer activity continue to temper the market,” says Xu.
Meanwhile, the overall number of for-sale homes climbed 20.3% from the same period in 2024, down from 20.9% the week before.
Last week was the 10th straight week that active inventory growth has eased, but it was also the 94th consecutive week of annual gains.
Nationwide, there were about 1.1 million properties awaiting buyers, marking the 17th week in a row over the million-listing benchmark.
“Active inventory is growing significantly faster than new listings, an indication that more homes are sitting on the market for longer,” says Xu.
August sees three weeks of flat prices
There have now been three weeks in a row of flat year-over-year median listing prices, and since the beginning of the year, the typical asking price was down 0.2%.
Notably, the median list price per square foot, which accounts for changes in home size, also remained flat compared to 2024, bringing to an end its nearly two-year growth streak.
“The flattened trends in both price measurements suggest that we are entering a period of pricing stability, as buyers are squeezed by high mortgage rates and sellers are slow to adjust expectations,” says Xu.
For-sale homes waited seven days longer for a buyer than a year ago, reflecting the glacial pace of sales in summer 2025 amid elevated housing costs and affordability headwinds.
In July, more than 20% of home listings came with price reductions—up 1.1 percentage points from last year but down slightly from June.
“Facing dwindling buyer interest, many sellers are adjusting course, lowering prices, or rethinking whether to sell at all,” says the economist.