Another sign of the housing slowdown in the news: Zillow reports that new listings fell to a record low in August, with sellers putting about 7% fewer homes up for sale than in July. Meanwhile, homes are staying on the market longer than a year ago, and home prices are barely growing in most markets.

There’s usually a slowdown in listings in the fall — fewer people want to move with kids in school and the weather turning. But this year the trend started early, according to Redfin’s head of economics research Chen Zhao.

“Inventory is up from a year ago, but the last few months, it’s been falling,” she said.

The supply of new homes has been anemic as well, per Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.

“Single-family construction is going to be down this year. You still have rising construction costs, and then there’s uncertainty among homebuyers,” he said.

All that uncertainty relates to tariffs, inflation, and the worsening job market.

Buyers are getting some good news, said Chen Zhao. “Home prices are appreciating slower than inflation or wage growth. There is — slowly — more affordability.”

Mortgage rates have also come down. But Zhao said a lot of would-be buyers are sitting on the sidelines.

“You don’t want to catch a falling knife, so they’re waiting for prices to come down more, for rates to come down more. And there’s no guarantee that either of those things will happen,” she said.

Sellers, meanwhile, are also holding back.

“You know, because they can’t get the prices they want, they’re just saying, ‘Well, I’m just going to not sell, then,’” Zhao said.

It’s a difficult housing market to navigate — on both sides of the buy-sell equation.