America’s Housing Market Is Drowning in a Record $698B of Unsold Homes as Sellers Outnumber Buyers

The US real estate market is packed with homes — but starved for offers. Homeowners are currently sitting on $698B worth of unsold properties, an all-time high that’s jumped 20.3% from last year, according to RedfinRDFN

. This pile of inventory represents a sharp turn from the pandemic’s red-hot seller’s market, where listings vanished faster than concert tickets. The imbalance created a buyer’s paradise — if you stomach the sticker shock.

• Nearly 500K more sellers than buyers are in the market today, with sellers outnumbering potential purchasers by 34% as of April — the widest gap since 2020.
• The typical home now takes 40 days to go under contract, and 44% of listings have been sitting for 60+ days without securing a buyer.

Market reality check: Housing supply has reached a five-year peak, but demand is crumbling under the weight of mortgage rates hovering near 6.89% — a far cry from 2022’s 3.1% rates that sparked bidding wars. Redfin’s Matt Purdy noted, “House hunters are only buying if they absolutely have to, and even serious buyers are backing out of contracts more than they used to.” With $331B worth of “stale inventory” lingering past the 60-day mark, Redfin economists anticipate this buyer-friendly shift will drive home prices down ~1% by year-end, offering some relief to cash-strapped house hunters.