Episode summary
Why homes are selling faster even with more inventory
HousingWire Daily
· · Hosts: Sarah Wheeler · Guests: Rachel Bader
Summary
Rachel Bader argued that the housing market is shifting from an inventory shortage story to a transaction-efficiency story. Nationally, inventory is up 2.3% year over year, but absorbed listings are up 17.5%, pendings are rising, and the median list price has eased, which she said shows markets recalibrating to affordability realities rather than weakening outright. The host framed that as evidence that better affordability can mean more homes actually sell.
Bader said regional differences are increasingly about how quickly markets accepted that recalibration. The Midwest has shown steady normalization, with moderate absorption, moderate price cuts, and consistent days on market. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic adjusted earlier, and Baltimore now shows 36% price cuts, 35 days on market, and a 2.37 absorption rate. Texas remains fragmented: Houston is more aligned with buyers, Austin is still searching for equilibrium at 1.12 absorption and 44.5% average price cuts, and San Antonio remains slower to adapt.
She also pointed to Florida, Arizona, and California as examples of local pricing discipline driving faster sales. Phoenix has almost 51% price cuts but a 2.04 absorption rate, while San Francisco has only 21 days on market and 20.8% price cuts. Her broader point was that the market rewards alignment, not optimism, and that sellers who price to current demand can move inventory faster.
Key takeaways
- Rachel Bader said national inventory is up 2.3%, but absorbed listings are up 17.5%, showing a market that is clearing faster, not just piling up supply.
- Bader said the Midwest has had the most stable normalization, with moderate absorption, moderate price cuts, and consistent days on market.
- Bader said Baltimore’s 36% price-cut rate and 35 days on market show the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are functioning efficiently after earlier recalibration.
- Bader said Austin is still struggling at 1.12 absorption and 44.5% average price cuts, while Houston is closer to today’s affordability reality.
- Bader said Phoenix can combine nearly 51% price cuts with a 2.04 absorption rate, proving that aggressive repricing can still produce fast sales when demand is there.
Notable quotes
“we're really in a space where it's becoming less of an inventory story and more of a transaction efficiency story”
“inventory really only matters if the market can absorb it”
“the market is definitely rewarding alignment and not optimism”
“they're over two for absorption and we didn't see that in in hardly any of the the cities that we were talking about in the other regions”
How the episode opens
Welcome everyone. My guest today is Rachel Bader, Vice President of Audience and Growth at HousingWire, to talk about the market signals she's seeing in our data across different regions, including days on market, price cut percentages, and absorption rates. Before we dive in, I want to thank our sponsor, Total Expert, for making this episode possible.
Rachel, welcome back to the podcast. Thank you so much. I'm super excited to be back.
You know, I love having you on. You always do a deep dive into our HousingWire data, and you talk a a lot about what different markets are seeing, and uh you write that up every week for us uh on our Data Digest newsletter. But also, I love talking to you about it because it's like there's so much happening right now.
And one of the things um I think right now is that's very interesting is inventory, and how the inventory story is sort of saying something different than like inventory coming onto the market normally does. Maybe you can start there. Yeah, for sure.
Um so um it's been interesting spending so much time in our HousingWire data, um and and getting to see all these different things play out. And right now, where like typically a traditional story is like we just need more inventory, then I feel like right now we're really in a space where it's becoming less of an inventory story and more of a transaction efficiency story. And so, that's kind of the shift that we're experiencing right now.
Okay, so what what are we looking at at inventory um you know, on the national level? Like what what signals that shift to you when you look at the data? Yeah, so a lot of that shift is that inventory really only matters if the market can absorb it.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- housing inventory
- days on market
- price cut percentage
- absorption rates
- regional housing markets
Watch the episode
Watch “Why homes are selling faster even with more inventory” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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