Jun 4, 2026
Spring is supposed to be the best time to sell a home — but this year, a growing number of sellers across the U.S. are giving up on it.
In April, 5.8% of all home listings nationwide were pulled off the market, according to data from Redfin — tying December 2025 for the highest share of delistings since March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic brought the housing market to a near-complete halt.
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Delistings were up 3.8% from March, right in the heart of the spring selling season, which is historically the period when buyer demand peaks and deals get done.
The cities seeing the sharpest pullbacks are spread across the country. Atlanta led all markets, with roughly 1 in 10 listings pulled in April. San Jose, California, followed at about 9%, with Los Angeles, Dallas and Seattle at around 7.7%–7.8%.
What’s behind it
Several forces have conspired to sap buyer demand at once.
Mortgage rates briefly flirted with the 5% range in late February, sparking cautious optimism that the housing market might finally catch a break. Then the U.S. conflict with Iran began, energy prices spiked and rates reversed sharply.
According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.53% as of May 28 — up from its spring low and above where many prospective buyers feel comfortable committing. Mortgage News Daily put the rate at 6.58% as of June 4.
The rate whiplash has compounded an already shaky demand picture. National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun said in an April statement that “lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers.”
The result: Buyers who are still in the market know they have leverage. “Buyers know they have negotiating power, often offering under the asking price and completing inspections, but some sellers just won’t budge,” Patricia Ammann, a Redfin agent, noted in a release.
When the gap between what sellers expect and what buyers will offer becomes too wide, listings disappear.
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The price picture is mixed
Home prices haven’t completely collapsed, but they’ve softened in many markets.
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“Markets that depend more heavily on traditional mortgage financing and rate-sensitive buyers are seeing prices stay relatively flat,” Selma Hepp, chief economist at Cotality, said in a release.
She noted that fewer markets are posting year-over-year price declines than in prior months. That’s at least a sign of stabilization for sellers who were counting on appreciation to justify their asking price.
Relisting and a modest sales bump
Some of April’s listings weren’t new — they were comebacks. Redfin found that 2.5% of homes on the market in April were relistings from sellers who had previously pulled their homes and tried again, hoping the spring window would give them a better shot.
That portion ties the prior two months for the highest since mid-2020. It’s a sign that even sellers who walked away once haven’t given up entirely.
Meanwhile, according to NAR, pending sales edged up 1.4% in April from March — an uptick that Yun attributed to “cautious optimism despite increasing economic uncertainty,” rather than any decisive shift in buyer appetite. Yun added that “demand will easily be even higher once mortgage rates retreat to the levels they were at earlier this year.”
The Texas Real Estate Research Center summarized the national mood in its May analysis: “Supply is back, confidence is not.”
And with the spring season drawing to a close, the window to recalibrate before the slower summer market sets in is narrowing fast.
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
