New Study Finds That Homes Are Taking Longer To Sell as Housing Markets Cool

Main Findings

• The national average number of days a home was on the market in October 2022 was 35 days – a 67% increase from the same time last year.
• Greenville, SC homes have stayed on the market the longest at 85 days in October 2022.
• Four metros experienced no change in the number of days on the market throughout 2022 (Green Bay, WI; Hickory, NC; Cleveland, OH; Omaha, NE).
• Mobile, AL, and Wichita, KS, saw the largest decreases, with the average time on the market dropping 10 days in each.

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Days on the Market

Below are the metros where homes stayed on the market the longest. This is potentially a troubling sign for homeowners in those areas who are hoping to sell. Homes staying on the market for long periods suggest a lack of enthusiastic buyers. If this supply/demand imbalance persists, home price growth will slow. Again, we’re seeing the effects of higher interest rates, which make buyers more apprehensive.

These markets had significantly longer average times on the market compared with national trends. The Southeast was featured heavily in the top 10 markets with the longest average time on the market.

South Carolina has seen a slowdown in its housing market, with homes staying on the market and pushing up inventory while once-eager buyers recede. Florida is also undergoing a relative cooling of the market. In the Sunshine State, home prices remain high as sellers try to squeeze as much out of the market as possible. But the slowing pace of home sales clearly indicates buyers are being more discerning about what to bid on and when.

Top 10 Markets With the Lowest Days on the Market

The 10 markets where homes stayed on the market for the shortest period are those metros where the market remains robust. These are the locations where significant demand combined with relatively tight inventory are likely keeping the days on market low.

This list was dominated by Pennsylvania metros, with homes in Harrisburg and Lancaster, PA, staying on the market for just over a week on average. This brief time period suggests that the state’s housing market is holding up well despite higher interest rates and other economic headwinds. 

Housing markets in the Midwest appear to be selling the fastest. Metros from Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, and Nebraska helped fill out the top 10. Meanwhile, only one metro from the South (Mobile, AL) showed up on the list, and there were no areas west of the Rocky Mountains that had notably short times on the market.

One-year Change in the Average Days on Market

To understand the state of local markets during this period, we examined the areas where the change in time on the market has been the most dramatic. Below are the metropolitan areas which showed the biggest change in days on the market between October 2021 and October 2022.

In addition to being the metro with the longest average time on the market in October 2022, Greenville, SC, also saw the biggest increase in days on the market. As we noted above, South Carolina is experiencing a relative glut of supply, giving buyers more options but allowing some homes to stay on the market for months.

On the other hand, many of the metros that saw the biggest decreases in the number of days on the market are smaller markets located in the South and the Midwest. As buyers look for more affordable options in an uncertain economy, it makes sense they would look at these less expensive markets.

When we look at which metros had the most drastic increases in percentage terms, we see some new locations in our top 10. While there is no clear regional pattern here, some states are well represented. In particular, Florida had three metros where days on the market doubled over the year. Other states to note included Utah and Washington, with two metros each where houses were staying on the market twice as long as last year.

Mobile, AL, was the metro with the biggest decrease in time on the market. Mobile also saw a below-average rise in home prices over the past five years, suggesting that its less-expensive market may be propelling faster home sales. Most metros with significant decreases in days on the market were in the South and the Midwest, bolstering the idea that more affordable markets are seeing plenty of interest from buyers.

Complete Data Set

We analyzed data from the 150 largest metropolitan areas to find how long homes were staying on the market in October 2022 compared to the previous October. At the national level, homes stayed on the market an average of 14 days longer in 2022. The data below is sorted by percent change, beginning with metros where the average days on the market increased by the largest percent.

Summary

Despite historically high inflation and relatively high interest rates, some metros are still maintaining a brisk pace of home sales. The clearest predictor of which areas are doing the best is affordability. Metros in the South and the Midwest are known as less expensive places to live compared to the East or West Coasts. An exception to this is Pennsylvania, which is home to multiple markets with average times on the market under two weeks. Despite this, as economic uncertainty grows, buyers are shunning traditionally popular metros in favor of areas with lower living costs.

Methodology

We compiled a list of the top 150 metros based on population from Redfin housing market data. Referencing their days on market information, we found the average number of days for October 2021 and 2022. We then calculated the percent change and the change in the total number of days to analyze the shifts for each metro over a year-long period.