The housing market can seem stuck right now, as homeowners with low mortgage rates hesitate to sell because they don’t want to lose those low rates.

According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, the inventory of new homes for sale was up by 8.5% in June, compared to a year ago. But the actual number of new home sales was down by 6.6% over that period.

Which is to say, more houses are coming on the market, but a lot of them are just sitting there. 

In the home real estate market right now, the mood depends on the region realtors work in. “Business is a little bit different,” said Tiffany Russell, a realtor in Austin, Texas. For Susan Cioffi in Tampa, Florida, “It’s still a little slow compared to the last couple of years,” And in Bellevue, Washington, Michael Orbino said, “There’s no question that deals are harder to pull together.”

Russell said, in the peak COVID times of low interest rates, a rush of people moved to Austin and pushed home prices a little too high. 

“They were putting in offers, you know, $30,000 and $50,000 over ask and essentially over inflating our market,” said Russell.

Some of those buyers are now looking to sell. And they’re finding they just can’t make their money back.

“So I’ve been showing my buyers homes that are effectively out of their price range, and we’ve been negotiating them into their price range,” she said.

In Tampa, realtor Susan Cioffi said the skyrocketing cost of insuring a home is keeping some buyers on the sideline.

“I think the hurricane last year hurt, because we never had a hurricane like that in this area,” said Cioffi.

In Bellevue, Washington, realtor Michael Orbino said a lot of the homes he sees just sitting and waiting for a sale tend to be the fancier ones.

“The luxury market has definitely swelled with more inventory, and I would say that’s upwards of 25% to 30%, year over year,” said Orbino.

But he said buyers looking for something more modest in the area are still out of luck.

“The entry level is very scarce, and it’s as bad as its ever been,” he said.

One thing all three realtors agree on: interest rates. “We have a lot of buyers who are scared of the interest rates,” said Russell. Cioffi added, “I think they’ll come out more if the interest rates drop a little more.” And Orbino agreed: “Certainly it would give it a lift. Those interest rates are very important to affordability, especially in that kind of mid-tier and entry level.”

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose above 6% in 2022 and it’s stayed there.

Housing by Daniel Ackerman

Jul 24, 2025