Despite an unusually active fall market this year, the housing market has finally settled into a slower pace for winter and returned to seasonal norms, according to a report released on Thursday by Zillow.
New listings fell about 30 percent month over month in November, the largest November decline since at least 2018. On an annual basis, new listings dropped 4.4 percent, down from a 5.1 percent annual increase in new listings in October.
The fact that there are fewer Thursdays and Fridays — the most popular days for listing homes — in November than in October may have something to do with those findings, Zillow noted.
Seller price cuts also dropped in November to 21.2 percent of listings, down from 26.9 percent of listings in October, in a sign that sellers may be hoping that, come spring, they might get an offer closer to their asking price.
Even though affordability is still a challenge for many homebuyers, the lower mortgage rates of late have moved the needle a bit for many buyers.
“Affordability is still a hurdle for homebuyers, but 2025 brought real progress,” Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng said in the report. “Mortgage payments dropped by more than $100 a month, while incomes continued to rise.
“For many households, that small shift can be the difference between sitting out the market and finally being able to buy or sell a home. While sellers and buyers alike pulled back in November, reminding us that seasonality still matters, we expect the market to warm up a bit next spring.”
Inflation slowed to 2.1 percent in November, according to the Consumer Price Index released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday. However, economists said the figures cited in the report were likely distorted as a result of the government shutdown that lasted from Oct. 1 through Nov. 12. Still, it is likely that inflation did not significantly accelerate last month either, which is a good sign for consumers.
New pending sales also fell in November by 18.5 percent month over month, but were up 3 percent year over year.
Overall, 2025 was marked by a continued rebalancing after the pandemic-fueled highs of previous years, Zillow noted, which included a rise in inventory, gradually lowered mortgage rates, flattened home values and slight gains in affordability.
