Pending Home Sales Fell 32% in October, Biggest Drop on Record

Pending Home Sales Post Record Drop in October as Deal Cancellations, Price Cuts Hit Record High

by
Updated on December 16th, 2022

The historic slowdown may ease in the coming months if inflation continues to cool.

Pending home sales fell the most on record in October and deal cancellations and price cuts hit record highs as buyers were spooked by the biggest mortgage-rate jump in over four decades.

Pending sales dropped 32.1% year over year last month, the largest decline since at least 2013, when Redfin’s records begin. Nearly 60,000 home-purchase agreements fell through, equal to a record 17.9% of homes that went under contract. Meanwhile, almost one-quarter (23.9%) of homes for sale experienced a price drop, double the rate of a year earlier.

Surging mortgage rates also caused would-be sellers to stay put due to the lock-in effect. The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.9% in October, up 3.83 percentage points from 3.07% one year earlier—the largest year-over-year increase during any month since 1981. That contributed to a 24% year-over-year drop in new listings, the steepest decrease on record aside from April 2020, when the onset of the pandemic brought the housing market to a near halt. 

“The Fed’s actions to curb inflation are causing the housing market to slow at a pace not seen since the financial crisis,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao. “There are already early but promising signs that inflation is cooling, which caused mortgage rates to drop last week. If that progress continues, buyers who recently backed out of deals may return to the market and sellers may be less inclined to slash their prices.”

Still, sale prices have room to fall. The median U.S. home sale price declined 1.4% month over month—the largest slowdown during any October since 2012—but was up 4.9% from a year earlier.

Prices may ease as listings linger on the market and competition slows. Homes that sold in October were on the market for a median of 35 days, up from 21 days a year earlier, and less than half (44.6%) of home offers written by Redfin agents faced competition. That compares with more than two-thirds (67.3%) in October 2021.

October Highlights

October 2022 Month-Over-Month Change Year-Over-Year Change
Median sale price $397,549 -1.4% 4.9%
Homes sold, seasonally-adjusted 464,017 -3.4% -26.9%
Pending home sales, seasonally-adjusted 414,492 -5.9% -32.1%
New listings, seasonally-adjusted 511,459 -5.4% -24%
All homes for sale, seasonally-adjusted 1,555,384 -1.2% 4.7%
Months of supply 2.7 0.3 1.2
Median days on market 35 3 14
Share of for-sale homes with a price drop 23.9% 2.1 ppts 11.9 ppts
Share of homes sold above final list price 28.8% -3.2 ppts -17 ppts
Average sale-to-final-list-price ratio 98.9% -0.4 ppts -1.9 ppts
Share of home offers written by Redfin agents that faced competition (seasonally adjusted) 44.6% -2.4 ppts -22.7 ppts
Pending sales that fell out of contract, as % of overall pending sales 17.9% 1.3 ppts 5.7 ppts
Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate 6.9% 0.79 ppts 3.83 ppts

Note: Data is subject to revision

Metro-Level Highlights

Bulleted rankings below came from a list of the 93 U.S. metro areas that have populations of at least 750,000, with the exception of rankings of bidding-war rates and home-purchase cancellations. The bidding-wars ranking came from a list of 36 metros—those that had a monthly average of at least 50 offers submitted by Redfin agents from March 2021 to March 2022. The home-purchase cancellations ranking came from a list of the 50 most populous metro areas. All changes are year over year unless otherwise noted.

For more metro-level trends, head to the Redfin Data Center

Prices

Sales

  • Pending home sales fell the most in Allentown, PA, declining 54.9% year over year. Next came Greensboro, NC (-50.4%), Honolulu (-47.3%), Salt Lake City (-46%) and Jacksonville (-45.9%).
  • Pending sales fell the least in McAllen, TX (-6.6%), Rochester, NY (-14.2%), Detroit (-14.4%), Buffalo, NY (-15.1%) and El Paso (-15.8%).
  • The number of homes sold fell the most in Salt Lake City (-47.6%), Stockton (-45.4%), Cape Coral (-45.3%), Las Vegas (-43.7%) and San Diego (-41.5%).
  • The number of homes sold fell the least in Greenville, SC (-14.6%), McAllen (-15.9%), Worcester, MA (-16.4%), Oklahoma City (-16.6%) and New Orleans (-17.6%).
  • In Jacksonville, 706 home-purchase agreements fell through, equal to 30.6% of homes that went under contract that month—the highest percentage among the metros Redfin analyzed. It was followed by Tampa (26.7%), San Antonio (26.6%), Atlanta (25.2%) and Las Vegas (25.1%).
  • San Francisco had the lowest percentage of cancellations (6%), followed by San Jose (8%), Nassau County, NY (8.2%), Montgomery County, PA (9.3%) New York (10.5%).

Inventory

  • New listings fell the most in Cape Coral (-50.8%), followed by Boise (-49.8%), Greensboro (-46.3%), Allentown (-42.1%) and Baton Rouge (-39.3%).
  • New listings only rose in one market—El Paso—increasing 3.3%. They fell the least in McAllen (-0.4%), New Orleans (-3.2%), Detroit (-6.3%) and Rochester (-7.8%).
  • Active listings (the total number of homes for sale) fell the most in Hartford, CT (-32.6%), followed by Milwaukee (-29.3%), Greensboro (-27.8%), Bridgeport, CT (-27.6%) and Allentown (-25.8%).
  • Active listings rose the most in North Port (46.9%), followed by Austin (42.3%), Nashville (40%), Tampa (33.2%) and Phoenix (32.9%).

Competition

  • The fastest market was Rochester, where half of all homes were pending sale in just 10 days. It was followed by Omaha, NE and Grand Rapids, MI with 11 median days on market. Next came Columbia, SC and Buffalo, with 12 median days on market.
  • The slowest market was Chicago, with 61 median days on market. It was followed by Honolulu (59), West Palm Beach, FL (58), New York (57) and Lake County (56).
  • In Rochester, 65.4% of homes sold above their final list price—a higher share than any other metro Redfin analyzed. It was followed by Buffalo (60.1%) Hartford (58.5%), Worcester (52.1%) and Camden, NJ (50.9%).
  • In North Port, 12.9% of homes sold above their final list price—a lower share than any other metro Redfin analyzed. Next came Cape Coral (13.5%), Phoenix (13.6%), West Palm Beach (13.9%) and Boise (14%).
  • Worcester had the highest bidding-war rate, with 68.4% of home offers written by Redfin agents facing competition. Next came Providence, RI (61.9%), Boston (57.5%), San Jose (54.9%) and San Francisco (51.7%).
  • The lowest bidding-war rates were in Nashville (11.1%), Colorado Springs, CO (11.1%), Phoenix (22.1%), Orlando, FL (23.2%) and Riverside, CA (24%).

Scroll down for national charts and market-by-market breakdowns. For downloadable data on all of the markets Redfin tracks, visit the Redfin Data Center. Refer to our metrics definition page for explanations of the metrics used in this report.

Competition

Metro Area Oct. 2022: Share of Redfin Offers That Faced Competition Sept. 2022: Share of Redfin Offers That Faced Competition Oct. 2021: Share of Redfin Offers That Faced Competition
Atlanta, GA 35.2% 40.2% 60.3%
Austin, TX 34.1% 32.0% 57.5%
Baltimore, MD 42.6% 47.4% 63.2%
Boston, MA 57.5% 58.1% 65.7%
Charlotte, NC 24.4% 40.4% 54.4%
Chicago, IL 38.3% 38.2% 53.3%
Colorado Springs, CO 11.1% 60.9% 65.3%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 31.5% 36.5% 71.5%
Denver, CO 27.2% 37.3% 62.3%
Detroit, MI 44.0% 40.5% 40.3%
Honolulu, HI 43.8% 41.2% 61.4%
Houston, TX 34.0% 27.4% 49.5%
Indianapolis, IN 47.1% 33.3% 72.7%
Las Vegas, NV 26.4% 22.0% 44.4%
Los Angeles, CA 41.3% 50.2% 71.5%
Miami, FL 31.4% 40.4% 53.2%
Minneapolis, MN 50.0% 40.7% 54.9%
Nashville, TN 11.1% 42.9% 58.5%
New York, NY 44.9% 53.1% 50.9%
Olympia, WA 42.9% 42.1% 54.7%
Orlando, FL 23.2% 45.1% 57.3%
Philadelphia, PA 50.4% 63.5% 62.9%
Phoenix, AZ 22.1% 21.1% 53.5%
Portland, OR 35.2% 37.1% 61.2%
Providence, RI 61.9% 53.8% 66.0%
Raleigh, NC 25.8% 43.5% 73.7%
Riverside, CA 24.0% 28.8% 53.5%
Sacramento, CA 38.5% 41.4% 76.3%
San Antonio, TX 28.3% 37.3% 56.9%
San Diego, CA 46.9% 49.4% 75.5%
San Francisco, CA 51.7% 56.5% 70.8%
San Jose, CA 54.9% 51.3% 76.7%
Seattle, WA 31.1% 35.3% 67.6%
Tampa, FL 25.0% 25.0% 62.7%
Washington, D.C. 48.8% 44.2% 59.2%
Worcester, MA 68.4% 44.7% 60.0%

 

Home-Purchase Cancellations

Metro Area Oct. 2022: Pending Sales that Fell Out of Contract Oct. 2022: Pending Sales That Fell Out of Contract, as % of Overall Pending Sales Sept. 2022: Pending Sales That Fell Out of Contract, as % of Overall Pending Sales Oct. 2021: Pending Sales That Fell Out of Contract, as % of Overall Pending Sales
Anaheim, CA  323 19.1% 17.1% 12.4%
Atlanta, GA  1,752 25.2% 23.8% 10.4%
Austin, TX  530 22.8% 21.0% 9.9%
Baltimore, MD  480 15.4% 14.7% 14.4%
Boston, MA  454 12.4% 12.0% 9.8%
Charlotte, NC  538 16.5% 15.5% 9.6%
Chicago, IL  1,293 18.2% 17.7% 14.6%
Cincinnati, OH  314 13.3% 14.2% 13.6%
Cleveland, OH  430 18.3% 19.5% 16.0%
Columbus, OH  457 17.8% 19.1% 14.3%
Dallas, TX  1,134 22.6% 21.8% 16.5%
Denver, CO  755 20.5% 20.1% 8.6%
Detroit, MI  245 20.3% 16.9% 16.7%
Fort Lauderdale, FL  605 23.2% 21.9% 20.2%
Fort Worth, TX  564 22.6% 21.1% 16.9%
Houston, TX  1,723 24.2% 21.4% 18.5%
Indianapolis, IN  617 21.1% 19.6% 13.1%
Jacksonville, FL  706 30.6% 29.6% 19.6%
Kansas City, MO  457 17.1% 16.0% 12.9%
Las Vegas, NV  611 25.1% 21.0% 20.3%
Los Angeles, CA  839 18.8% 18.0% 13.5%
Miami, FL  481 21.0% 18.4% 16.0%
Milwaukee, WI  197 12.5% 10.0% 9.6%
Minneapolis, MN  464 12.8% 11.9% 9.6%
Montgomery County, PA  170 9.3% 9.6% 9.9%
Nashville, TN  542 22.6% 19.7% 12.8%
Nassau County, NY  166 8.2% 5.4% 5.1%
New Brunswick, NJ  400 14.8% 10.2% 8.5%
New York, NY  528 10.5% 6.4% 5.9%
Newark, NJ  271 13.3% 3.8% 2.0%
Oakland, CA  198 11.1% 11.4% 6.7%
Orlando, FL  830 24.7% 24.2% 20.8%
Philadelphia, PA  270 14.5% 13.9% 10.9%
Phoenix, AZ  1,319 24.6% 23.0% 15.9%
Pittsburgh, PA  414 18.0% 18.1% 13.7%
Portland, OR  434 17.9% 18.0% 12.5%
Providence, RI  215 15.2% 13.0% 10.9%
Riverside, CA  817 21.6% 20.5% 15.9%
Sacramento, CA  360 17.1% 17.9% 14.2%
San Antonio, TX  731 26.6% 25.3% 19.2%
San Diego, CA  386 20.0% 17.5% 14.0%
San Francisco, CA  49 6.0% 5.2% 3.4%
San Jose, CA  73 8.0% 7.7% 5.2%
Seattle, WA  336 12.2% 12.5% 8.0%
St. Louis, MO  566 16.4% 14.4% 13.7%
Tampa, FL  1,286 26.7% 24.0% 19.0%
Virginia Beach, VA  382 16.7% 15.1% 14.4%
Warren, MI  323 17.0% 13.9% 14.2%
Washington, D.C.  655 14.0% 12.7% 11.3%
West Palm Beach, FL  479 22.2% 20.7% 17.5%

 

Lily Katz

Lily Katz

As a data journalist, Lily is passionate about helping readers understand complex facets of the housing market. She is particularly interested in the issues of climate change, race and gender equality and housing affordability. Prior to working at Redfin, Lily spent four years as a reporter at Bloomberg News in New York City.

Email Lily

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