Housing Market Shows Buyer-Friendly Shift as Prices Fall for Fifth Straight Month

The U.S. housing market is showing signs of a buyer-friendly spring, with median asking prices falling 2.2% year-over-year in March to $415,450. This marks the fifth straight month of declining prices, according to Realtor.com's March 2026 data.

Active listings rose 8.1% from a year ago to 964,477, marking 29 straight months of inventory growth. However, the pace of recovery has slowed to single digits. New listings increased 0.7% nationally, though trends diverged regionally with gains in the South and West offset by declines in the Northeast and Midwest.

Homes are taking longer to sell, with the median time on market reaching 57 days, up 4 days from last year. This marks the 24th straight month of year-over-year increases. Price cuts fell to 16.2% of listings, down 1.2 percentage points, suggesting sellers are pricing more realistically from the start.

Mortgage rates have risen for four straight weeks and now sit 40 basis points higher than a month ago following geopolitical tensions in Iran. Despite the headwinds, contract signings were up 3.9% year-over-year, the third straight month of increases.

Sources:
Realtor.com Research - March 2026 Housing Data
iReal Estate Commercial - April 2026 Market Update