Buying and selling homes on Redfin’s platform has slowed since the housing market went cold at the beginning of the pandemic, according to their new report.

Homes sold during the four-week period ending Jan 8 were typically on the market for 44 days, the longest period since April 2020. This contributed to the largest increase in yearly inventory on record. A low pending home sales number, which was also down 32% and the lowest since 2016, also helped bring this number up.

High mortgage rates and extreme winter weather hampered the market at the beginning of the year, according to Redfin. Due to this, would-be buyers were likely deterred from buying, further exacerbating the usual holiday competition.

The economy is expected to continue to improve in 2023, according to Redfin’s Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. We have passed the worst of inflation, according to the latest consumer price index report. As a result, mortgage rates are expected to gradually decline as the Fed continues to ease interest-rate increases. There may be some homebuyers coming back in the months to come because of this. The number of people who are searching for homes has already increased. Despite the fact that those house hunters haven’t yet turned into buyers, they might soon, given that mortgage payments are significantly lower than their peak, and the latest employment and inflation data decrease the likelihood of a recession.

According to the report, the typical home sold for $351,250, an increase of 0.8% from last year, but a drop of 10% from the peak in June 2022. A total of 20 out of the 50% most populous metro areas saw home prices drop over the past year.