‘Quiet quitting’ the U.S. housing market: One group of sellers has disappeared

The housing market’s all-important spring season has arrived, but there aren’t many homes going up for sale.

According to Realtor.com (see chart below), only 392,016 U.S. homes were listed for sale in April 2023. That’s below the 497,844 listed in April 2022—a period that was infamous for its tight supply—and far below the 552,082 listed in April 2019.

Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather might have summed up the phenomenon the best when she tweeted last week: “Homeowners are quiet quitting the housing market.”

Fairweather is being a little tongue-in-cheek as she invokes quiet...