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As your trusted real estate advisor, I have valuable and unique information about the pulse of the market based on real-time data. For example,
With much of the country finally thawing out, the housing market posted a meaningful rebound this week. New listings and inventory both climbed sharply, and weekly pending sales came in 4.6% higher than a year ago—an encouraging early signal that buyers are responding to improved affordability.
Weather continues to distort the short-term data, and February always brings week-to-week volatility. But as we head toward the second half of March—when the spring market typically finds its footing—the early evidence suggests lower mortgage rates are beginning to have an impact. On non-storm weeks, pending sales are running ahead of 2025, inventory growth remains far slower than last year, and price reductions are easing. Together, those signals point to gradually improving demand.
One of the most important stories right now isn’t a flood of brand-new listings—it’s a measured return of supply. Inventory rose 1.4% this week, pushing single-family homes on the market just over 700,000, but nationally there are still 15% fewer homes for sale than in 2019. While some markets like Texas and Florida have more inventory than pre-pandemic levels, 32 states still have fewer homes available, underscoring how tight much of the country remains.
Here are a few insights that stood out:
Seller activity also rebounded this week, with just over 60,000 new single-family listings—an 11% increase week over week and 12% higher than this time last year. After dipping during the deep freeze, new listings recovered quickly, suggesting sellers are leaning back into the market as conditions improve. Even so, most regions still don’t have enough new supply to drive rapid inventory growth.
Re-listings continue to play a meaningful role as well. About 78,000 single-family homes that were withdrawn last fall are now back on the market, representing roughly 11% of active inventory. These returning sellers appear to be responding to slightly better affordability—and we’ll be watching closely to see whether these homes find buyers more quickly than they did last year.
On the demand side, pending sales showed a clear rebound this week, though storm disruptions mean the four-week average remains roughly flat versus 2025. Year to date, sales are running about 2.2% ahead of last year, and expectations remain for approximately 5% growth over the full year as buyers adjust to the lowest mortgage rates in several years.
Home prices remain steady. The median price of newly pending homes is just over $395,000, about 2% higher than last year, while asking price per square foot is 1.5% lower year over year. In other words, prices are essentially flat nationwide. At the same time, the share of homes with price reductions dipped to 31.9%, signaling a modest but meaningful improvement in buyer demand compared to last spring.
The takeaway: Inventory and new listings are rebounding, demand is slowly improving, and price pressure is easing—but this is still a balanced market, not an overheated one. Sales activity is building gradually while prices remain largely unchanged, setting up a spring where strategy, timing, and pricing will matter more than ever.
In this environment, preparation matters. Leveraging Compass’s 3-Phased Marketing Strategy—including Private Exclusives and Coming Soon—gives sellers the opportunity to test demand, refine pricing, and position ahead of broader spring inventory rather than competing once more listings arrive.
If you’re thinking about making a move this spring, I’d be happy to walk through what these trends mean for your neighborhood and timing.
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