If you’ve been watching the housing market lately, you might have noticed something unusual: more homes are disappearing from listings before they sell. In fact, delistings have climbed to levels we haven’t seen in a decade for this time of year, now representing 5.5% of all inventory according to recent data from Redfin.
So what’s driving this trend, and what does it mean for buyers and sellers heading into 2026?
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The Gap Between Expectations and Reality
The heart of the issue comes down to a pricing standoff. Many homeowners, particularly those who purchased during the pandemic’s competitive frenzy, still have their sights set on the elevated prices from that era. They’ve listed their homes with price tags that reflect those boom-time values, but today’s buyers simply aren’t willing to pay them.
Rather than negotiate down or accept offers they view as too low, these sellers are choosing to pull their properties off the market entirely. It’s a decision that reflects both financial constraints and emotional attachment to what they believe their home is worth.
As Redfin senior economist Asad Khan explains, this creates an interesting dynamic in the market. When thousands of homeowners withdraw their listings instead of accepting current market prices, it effectively shrinks the pool of homes genuinely available to buyers—even though those properties technically still exist.
Not All Markets Are Equal
The delisting phenomenon isn’t playing out evenly across the country. Markets in Texas and Florida, where housing has softened considerably, are experiencing higher rates of withdrawn listings. These regions saw substantial building activity and now face more inventory pressure.
In contrast, Midwestern markets—which tend to have tighter inventory conditions—are seeing fewer sellers give up and delist their homes.
Who’s Most Likely to Walk Away?
There’s an interesting pattern in who’s pulling listings versus who’s staying the course. Pandemic-era buyers who remember bidding wars and homes selling above asking price are often testing the waters. They might sell and upgrade if they get their target price, but they’re perfectly content to stay put if the market doesn’t meet their expectations. These sellers tend to be less motivated and more willing to wait.
Longtime homeowners present a different picture. Those who’ve owned their properties for many years and are looking to downsize or relocate for retirement typically have stronger motivation to complete a sale, making them more likely to adjust their pricing strategy rather than delist.
The Connection to Stale Inventory
Markets seeing the most delistings also tend to have the highest concentration of stale inventory—homes that have lingered on the market for more than 60 days. This isn’t coincidental. When properties sit without attracting acceptable offers for months, sellers eventually face a choice: drop the price significantly or pull the listing.
The Relisting Strategy
Not all delistings represent sellers truly giving up. About one in five homes pulled over the summer returned to the market within three months. Some sellers use delisting strategically, taking their home off the market before relisting at a reduced price. This approach helps them avoid the stigma of a visible price drop on their listing and resets the “days on market” counter, making the property appear fresh to potential buyers.
Of those July delistings that returned to the market, roughly 31.6% ultimately found buyers—suggesting that a price adjustment combined with a fresh listing can be effective.
Important Steps to Rent Your Home Out from A to Z
Step by step checklist for getting a home rented, and link to the full property management guide
1 Consider strengths and weaknesses for your home and location and consider special strategies to utilize them. Is it a college area? If so, you’ll likely handle a lot differently from low income, or a suburb.
2 Get the property in show-ready condition by handling repairs, but also low-cost aesthetic fixes like spray painting rusted AC grates, and other things that really stand out. A sure way to attract sub-par tenants and repel the rest is to show a home with unrepaired issues.
3 Decide whether you’re going to allow pets or not. Before you decide, know that for most landlords it’s the single best thing you can do to increase your “bottom line” profit over the long term. More on this subject here
4 Set a rental rate that will balance a minor amount of time on market hassle, with monthly rate. Whether in the form of owner-occupied showings, stress, or vacancy. Most owners fail to properly account for these subtle but real costs, especially vacancy. Vacant homes are much more costly than most account for. We can provide a free rental rate estimate compiled by people, not an algorithm, here
What This Means for 2026
The big question now is what happens when spring 2026 arrives. Many of these delisted properties will likely resurface, either back on the for-sale market or potentially as rentals if owners decide to test that approach instead. If housing demand doesn’t pick up correspondingly, we could see inventory levels rise more rapidly than current projections suggest.
For buyers, this could eventually mean more choices and better negotiating power. For sellers, it reinforces the importance of realistic pricing from the start—or the flexibility to adjust when the market sends clear signals about what your home is actually worth in today’s conditions.
The market is clearly in a transitional phase, with neither buyers nor sellers fully in control. How this resolves will depend largely on whether economic conditions shift enough to bridge the gap between seller expectations and buyer willingness to pay.
To read more, visit Housing market delistings just hit a decade high—raising one big question – Fast Company.
