Rising or falling inventory: what it means for a seller, and how to read the figures on this site

This isn’t an appraisal, a forecast or advice about a specific home. Past figures don’t predict prices.

What inventory counts

Inventory is the number of homes for sale at a given time. Realtor.com’s active listing count covers single-family homes, condos and townhomes listed in a market during the month, and leaves out listings already pending. Two things move it: homes coming on the market, and homes leaving it through a sale, a pending contract or a withdrawal.

So a rising count can mean more sellers, slower sales or both. That’s why it helps to read it beside new listings and days on market.

What the Phoenix metro shows

These are Realtor.com’s figures, published through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s FRED database, through September 2026 (updated October 1, 2026). They count listings, not closed sales. The series aren’t seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month from year to year. Here is each September since 2023:

September	Active listings	New listings	Median days on market
2023	9,335	6,176	39
2024	13,405	5,620	58
2025	17,144	7,066	65
2026	18,437	7,322	62

Active listings about doubled in three years. Most of the increase came by September 2025. From September 2025 to September 2026 the count rose about 7.5%, while median days on market went from 65 to 62. One month’s data can’t show whether that continues, and this guide doesn’t predict it.

What rising inventory means for a seller

• Buyers have more to compare. A home is judged against more alternatives, including ones that have been on the market a while.
• The list price has less room for error. An overpriced home can sit, and a longer time on the market can itself become a question buyers ask about.
• Condition counts for more. With more choices, buyers can pass over a home that needs work, or ask for repairs or credits after their inspection.
• Terms may be negotiated more. Closing dates, credits and inspection items can all come into play.

None of this means a home won’t sell, or that its price has to come down. Mark Stapp of Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business makes a related point about the calendar: it “still affects the number of transactions. But it no longer determines who has the upper hand.”

What falling inventory means for a seller

Fewer active listings mean fewer direct alternatives, so a well-prepared home may stand out sooner. It doesn’t remove the need to price from evidence. A buyer’s lender may still require an appraisal, and buyers still have their inspection period. If inventory is falling because few owners are listing, rather than because more buyers are active, the effect on any one home can be smaller than the headline suggests.

How to read the figures on this site

The area pages and the compare tool show two market figures for each area, supplied by RentCast. Here’s what each part means.

• Median list price. The middle asking price among single-family listings in that ZIP code. It’s what sellers are asking, not what buyers paid.
• Days on market (listings). The median days on the market for those listings.
• The label, such as “RentCast, ZIP 85258, October 2026 to date”. It names the source, the ZIP code and the period. “To date” means the month so far, so early in a month the figure can rest on fewer listings.
• “Updated”. RentCast’s own date for the figures, which refresh weekly on this site.
• One ZIP code per area. Each area’s figures come from its main ZIP code, the first it lists. An area with more than one ZIP code, such as Central Scottsdale, shows only the first.
• Shared ZIP codes. North Scottsdale and Silverleaf share 85255, so they show the same figures, and those figures can’t tell the two apart. McCormick Ranch’s 85258 also covers neighboring areas.

A dated example

As of October 30, 2026, RentCast’s figures for October to date were:

• ZIP 85018 (Arcadia): median list price $1,790,000 and median 36 days on market, from 253 listings, 64 of them new.
• ZIP 85255 (North Scottsdale and Silverleaf): median list price $2,136,119 and median 33 days on market, from 365 listings, 113 of them new.

These are list prices for single-family listings, not closed sales. The listing counts come from the same RentCast data, though the area pages show only the two medians. These figures will have changed by the time you read this, so check the Arcadia and North Scottsdale pages for the current ones.

Four common misreadings

1. Treating a median list price as a home’s value. A median describes what’s on offer in a ZIP code that month. It doesn’t account for your lot, condition, age or street.
2. Reading a move in one month as a trend. RentCast notes there can be gaps in its history when too few listings exist for reliable statistics, and a few large listings can move a small ZIP code’s median.
3. Comparing two sources. RentCast’s 36 days for one ZIP code’s single-family listings and Realtor.com’s 62 days for all metro listings measure different things, in different periods. Don’t subtract one from the other.
4. Assuming the ZIP code is the neighborhood. ZIP codes don’t follow neighborhood or city lines, so a ZIP code’s figures can include homes well outside the area you have in mind.

Pricing a specific home

Market figures give context. A price comes from comparable recent sales and the homes yours would compete with, which is what the pricing analysis on the Selling with Aaron page covers. To go through the numbers for your own home, book a consultation.