Home listings grew in December as housing prices stabilized, closing out an interesting 2023 for the real estate market. 

Nationally, listings grew 4% year over year in December, a sign the market is becoming more active, giving prospective buyers higher levels of inventory to choose from, according to Realtor.com’s December Monthly Housing Trends Report.

New listings in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue region grew 27.3% from 2022.

Declining mortgage rates are a trend Realtor.com anticipates will make a positive impact on home-selling sentiment and the possibility that more new listings will enter the market.

Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale says inventory improvements are being seen across the country, especially in the South, which experienced a 7.7% year-over-year increase in active listings, but the number of homes for sale still hasn’t reached their pre-pandemic levels. 

“While the uptick in December inventory levels is encouraging, it is important to note that two-thirds of outstanding mortgages in the U.S. have a rate under 4% and more than 90% have a rate less than 6%,” Hale said. “We are optimistic that inventory levels are moving in a positive direction, but the number of homes on the market is still low relative to pre-pandemic levels. Some sellers are clearly motivated already, but other households may hold out for lower rates before selling or moving to new homes.”

Home prices rose in December with the national median list price growing to $410,000, a 1.2% increase from 2022 and up 36.7% from 2019. 

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area’s median list price was $749,000 in December, up 3.3 % from 2022.