US Home Sales Drop Sharply in October, Pending Listings Slide 17%
Zillow's October report shows completed existing home sales fell nearly 9% annually, while newly pending listings posted their steepest yearly decline since 2023.
Existing home sales continued to weaken in October, with Zillow's latest market report showing a year-over-year decline of 8.7% in completed transactions — a sign that the housing market remains under sustained pressure heading into the final months of the year.
The more forward-looking measure of newly pending listings, which signals where closed sales are likely to land in the following month, fell 16.8% compared to the same period a year ago. That represents the largest such annual drop since 2023, underscoring the degree to which buyer demand has pulled back from already subdued levels.
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Pending listings are closely watched by housing economists because they capture signed contracts before closings are recorded, making them a reliable early signal of near-term sales activity. A decline of this magnitude suggests the weakness in October closed sales is unlikely to reverse quickly in November data.
The pullback comes against a backdrop of persistently elevated mortgage rates and limited affordability that have kept many prospective buyers on the sidelines. Sellers, in turn, face fewer offers, creating a feedback loop that restrains overall transaction volume even as inventory levels remain historically tight in many markets.
The Zillow data adds to a growing body of evidence that the housing market's recovery, anticipated by some analysts earlier in the year, has stalled. Continue reading at Economic News, Trends, Analysis.
