Active listings and months of supply are crucial indicators of home price momentum. Analysts at LendingOne believe that a rapid increase in active listings can signal potential price weakness as homes take longer to sell. Conversely, a steep decline in active inventory often indicates a heating up housing market as demand absorbs available inventory.
What are we seeing today?
At the end of January 2025, U.S. active inventory still sits below pre-pandemic levels, at 25.3% below what it was in January 2019.
However, national active inventory levels have grown 24.6% year over year, reaching 829,376 in January 2025—a 56% increase from January 2021, when housing inventory hit a historic low. That suggests the housing market has cooled over the past year, giving buyers more leverage in most housing markets.
Analysts at LendingOne looked over the latest inventory data to better understand what could await real estate investors this spring and summer.
LendingOne’s top-line findings:
- National housing inventory isn’t high, which puts a floor under national home prices in 2025.
- Inventory levels in 2025 are higher than the past few years, indicating buyers in many markets—especially in the Sun Belt—have more opportunities than the past few years.
- Some markets, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest remain very tight, with active inventory levels still a fraction of what they were before the Pandemic Housing Boom.
National Active Housing Inventory for Sale
While some housing markets remain seller-friendly, with active inventory levels more than 50% depleted from six years ago, others have moved toward balance—or even into buyer’s market territory. In particular, some Mountain West and Southern metros have seen their active listings climb substantially.
Among the 100 largest metros
10 metros where active listings in January 2025 were up the most since January 2019:
- Lakeland, FL: +52%
- Colorado Springs, CO: +40%
- McAllen, TX: +35%
- San Antonio, TX: +33%
- Spokane, WA: +25%
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL: +22%
- Memphis, TN-MS-AR: +21%
- New Orleans-Metairie, LA: +20%
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO: +19%
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL: +19%
10 metros where active listings in January 2025 were down the most since January 2019:
- Hartford, CT: -80%
- Bridgeport, CT: -80%
- New Haven, CT: -72%
- Albany, NY: -71%
- Providence, RI: -67%
- Rochester, NY: -64%
- Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ: -64%
- Syracuse, NY: -60%
- Worcester, MA: -60%
- Portland-South Portland, ME: -58%
Metro areas where active inventory has grown above pre-pandemic 2019 levels have generally seen home price growth slow, with some even experiencing outright price declines in the past year. For example, in Cape Coral, Florida where the active listing level is 22% higher than it was in January 2019. home prices have fallen -6% year-over-year.
Meanwhile, the country's tightest housing markets are seeing the strongest price growth. In Hartford, Connecticut—where inventory remains among the lowest—home prices have risen 7% over the past year.
Big Picture: Rising housing inventory in 2025 is giving homebuyers more negotiating power in many markets. However, persistently tight supply in the Midwest and Northeast continues to drive price appreciation in those regions.