Key takeaways:

• Sellers hunkered down — new listings declined 30% from October to November to return to seasonal averages. 
• Price cuts fell from near-record highs, on nearly 27% of listings in October, back to seasonal norms near 21%. 
• Mortgage payments as a share of median household income fell to 32.6%, the lowest since 2022. 

Seasonal cooling is finally seeping into the housing market after an unseasonably active fall. Price cuts from sellers dropped back to normal levels from near-record highs; a rare instance of buyers losing a bit of leverage in a year when many housing trends moved in their favor. 

Affordability is still a hurdle for home buyers, but 2025 brought real progress. Mortgage payments dropped by more than $100 a month, while incomes continued to rise. Sales will finish out 2025 just slightly ahead of a weak 2024, but under the assumption that mortgage rates continue to tick lower towards 6%, Zillow expects sales to rise 4.3% in 2026.

Seasonality strikes, cooling listings and sales

Low mortgage rates in September and October pushed buyers and sellers to be more active than usual. But November saw a return to seasonality, despite mortgage rates that dropped to 2025 lows. 

Homeowners without a pressing need to sell are likely deciding to wait out the winter. New listings from sellers fell sharply, nearly 30% month over month — the largest monthly November decline since at least 2018. This reversed annual growth in new listings, from 5.1% year over year in October to a 4.4% annual decline in November. 

Calendar effects may explain some of the pullback in new listings: October has more Thursdays and Fridays than last year, and November has fewer — Thursday and Friday are the biggest days of the week for listing homes. However, the precipitous drop still marks the end of an unseasonably warm fall, as sellers reset before the coming year.

Price cuts from sellers also dropped, from being offered on a near-record 26.9% of listings in October to 21.2% in November, a share right in line with seasonal norms. Sellers may be holding out hope that they get the price they want in the spring instead of cutting prices to attract a buyer. 

Newly pending sales that stayed steady in October finally succumbed to the seasonal slowdown in November, falling 18.5% month over month while remaining 3% above last year. 

2025 national trends in review

The housing market continued to rebalance in 2025 in the wake of explosive cost increases early in the pandemic. Buyers saw several factors move in their favor over the course of the year. These are the biggest housing macro moves from 2025:

• Rates ruled the rhythm of the market. Spiking mortgage rates in early 2025 cooled the spring shopping season, keeping buyers cautious despite rising listings. Zillow market reports show that when rates eased over the summer, activity rebounded, pulling buyers and sellers back into the market before settling into normal seasonal patterns by November.
• Inventory increased, and buyers gained leverage. Inventory accumulated as sellers outnumbered buyers through the spring and early summer. Growth compared to the prior year peaked at 22.8% in March, and a longstanding deficit in inventory shrank from 24% below pre-pandemic levels on New Year’s Day to a 17% shortfall by the end of November. 
• Home values flattened. Typical home values nationwide are up just 0.2% over last year, a welcome reprieve for buyers who watched prices skyrocket in past years. At the property level, 53% of home values fell over the past year, according to Zillow research. But the vast majority of homes have gained value since their last sale. 
• Affordability improved (slightly). Affordability remains a major challenge, but it did improve slightly in 2025, thanks to declining mortgage rates, flattened home values and growing incomes. Monthly mortgage payments for a typical house required 35.7% of median household income at the start of the year (with a 20% down payment). That declined to 32.6% in November, the lowest since August 2022. 

Home values

• The typical U.S. home value is $360,782.
• Home values climbed month over month in just one of the 50 largest metro areas in November: San Jose (0.1%). Values stayed steady in New York, and fell the least in Birmingham (-0.1%), Oklahoma City (-0.1%), and Memphis (-0.1%).
• Home values fell, on a monthly basis, in 48 major metro areas. The largest monthly drops were in Austin (-1%), Denver (-0.7%), Dallas (-0.7%), Atlanta (-0.6%), and Raleigh (-0.6%).
• Home values are up from year-ago levels in exactly half of the 50 largest metro areas. Annual price gains are highest in Hartford (4.6%), Cleveland (4.6%), Milwaukee (4.5%), Buffalo (3.9%), and Chicago (3.8%).
• Home values are down from year-ago levels in 24 major metro areas. The largest drops were in Austin (-6%), Tampa (-5.6%), Miami (-4.6%), Orlando (-4.3%), and Dallas (-3.9%).
• The typical monthly mortgage payment, assuming 20% down, is $1,767. That’s down 5.6% — $105 — from last year , but it’s still up 99.4% since pre-pandemic.

Inventory and new listings

• New listings decreased by 29.9% month over month in November.
• New listings decreased by 4.4% this month compared to last year.
• New listings are 16.8% lower than pre-pandemic averages for this time of year.
• Total inventory (the number of listings active at any time during the month) in November decreased by 7.9% from last month.
• The median age of inventory, the typical time since the initial list date for active for-sale listings, was 77 days.
• There were 11.2% more listings active in November compared to last year.
• Inventory levels are -16.9% lower than pre-pandemic levels for the month.

Price cuts and share sold above list

• 21.2% of listings in November had a price cut. That’s compared to 26.9% in October and 21.8% at this time last year. 
• 24.6% of homes sold above their list price in October. That’s compared to 25.2% in September and 26.9% in October of 2024. 

Newly pending sales

• Newly pending listings decreased by 18.5% in November from the prior month.
• Newly pending listings increased by 3% from last year.
• Median days to pending, the typical time since initial list date for homes that went under contract in a month, is at 33 days in November, up five days since last month.
• Median days to pending increased by five days from last year.

Market heat index

• Zillow’s market heat index shows the nation is currently a neutral market.
• The strongest sellers markets in the country are San Jose, Hartford, San Francisco, New York, and Richmond.
• The strongest buyers markets in the country are Louisville, Indianapolis, Miami, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh.

Rents

• Asking rents decreased by 0.3% month over month in November. The pre-pandemic average for this time of year is -0.1%.
• Rents are now up 2.2% from last year.
• Rents fell, on a monthly basis, in 41 major metro areas. The largest monthly drops are in Denver (-1%), Washington (-0.7%), Austin (-0.7%), Salt Lake City (-0.7%), and Nashville (-0.7%).
• Rents are up from year-ago levels in 45 of the 50 largest metro areas. Annual rent increases are highest in San Francisco (5.8%), Chicago (5.5%), Providence (5.4%), Cleveland (4.9%), and New York (4.9%).