Map reveals cities hit hardest by delistings

In the face of sluggish demand and widespread cancellations of home-purchase agreements, a growing number of American sellers are calling it quits, taking their properties off the market altogether, according to new data shared by Realtor.com.

In October, delistings nationwide were up 45.5 percent since the beginning of the year and 37.9 percent compared to a year earlier, a record growth that cemented 2025 as the year with the highest national delisting rate since Realtor.com began tracking the data in 2022.

But no other city has seen sellers withdraw from the market as much as Miami has.

Why It Matters

The fall season normally brings about an increase in delistings, which then peaks in winter, according to Realtor.com. But this year, delistings began ramping up in June, with about 6 percent of active listings being removed from the market every month since then.

Sellers are taking their homes off the market to “reassert control as the market shifts in a more buyer-friendly direction,” Realtor.com experts said. This, in turn, could put a damper on homebuyers’ growing advantage over sellers.

What To Know

Realtor.com compared the flow of delistings in the U.S. market to the flow of new listings, which it described as the “ratio of unsuccessful sellers to new sellers.” 

It found that Miami had the highest delisting-to-new-listing ratio in October, at 45.1  percent, down from 60 percent in August but up from 34 percent a year earlier. 

In October, the city also reported the biggest increase in the time for-sale listings spent on the market before going under contract, adding 10 days from a year earlier. At 84 days, Miami had the highest time on the market among the nation’s top metropolitan areas.

As home listings languish on the Miami market, 15 percent of listings in the city have price cuts, according to Realtor.com. “It’s clear Miami sellers would strongly prefer not to budge much on price and would rather delist and wait the market out instead,” Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel said in the report.

Denver followed with the second-highest delisting-to-new-listing ratio in the nation, at 39.2 percent, up from 37 percent in August and 24 percent a year earlier.

While delistings always increase in the city this time of the year, Amanda Snitker, a real estate agent and the chair of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors’ Marketing Trends Committee, told Realtor.com that the recent surge was being driven by sellers’ frustration.

“Buyers are having a hard time deciding to purchase a home in general,” she said. “It isn’t necessarily about a specific home, which makes it hard for sellers to make decisions that appeal to buyers.”

Houston took the third spot with a ratio of 36.6 percent, down from 40 percent in August, but up from 31 percent in October 2024.

What People Are Saying

Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel said in the report: “Sellers came to market and inventory in many metros boomed, but the buyers never really showed up this summer. Between higher than expected interest rates and home prices, low consumer sentiment, and broader economic uncertainty, demand was extremely low.”

He added: “The delisting trend is a perfect personification of the stagnant and frustration-filled housing market. With buyers and sellers far apart, the sellers’ solution is to pull that trump card and delist, rather than cut prices.”

What Happens Next

According to Realtor.com, the surge in delistings observed across the country shows that more homeowners are “retreating when their price expectations aren’t met, underscoring how affordability pressures are weighing on seller confidence.”

This, ultimately, shows that many sellers can afford to be picky and wait until conditions in the U.S. market improve in their favor. But at the same time, buyers are redirecting their money toward more affordable markets, seeking “refuge markets,” as Realtor.com describes them, where they can obtain homeownership without breaking the bank.