MW 'Can't sell house' searches are higher now than during the 2008 housing crisis

By Weston Blasi

Here are some expert tips to help you sell your house in a slow market

The average 30-year mortgage rate dipped to 5.98% this week, down from 6.76% a year ago - which could help spur interest from buyers.

Struggling to sell your home? You're not alone.

Google searches for "Can't sell house" have reached record levels, highlighting a predicament many homeowners have faced in recent years.

"Can't sell house" Google searches in the United States since 2004.

Searches for "Can't sell house" are higher now than during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis, according to Google.

The uptick in searches follows a year when sales of existing homes hit a 31-year low. High home prices and elevated mortgage rates kept many aspiring home buyers on the sidelines, and many homeowners from selling their properties, in 2025. That led some desperate sellers to either cut their asking prices or take their homes off the market entirely.

To be clear, Google Trends doesn't show exact volumes of searches. Instead, it estimates how the popularity of a word or phrase has changed as far back as 2004, when Google (now Alphabet $(GOOGL)$ (GOOG)) went public. It's also worth noting that active for-sale listings are currently far from all-time highs.

"In parts of the country, it is taking longer for sellers to find a buyer. Nationwide, homes are sitting on the market eight days longer than a year ago," said Amanda Pendleton, Zillow's (Z) home-trends expert.

"Homes that are priced and marketed right are finding a buyer and going under contract in 47 days, while homes that miss the mark are lingering for a median of 88 days."

The COVID-19 pandemic saw home buyers rush into the market, enticed by mortgage rates under 3% and cheaper housing prices. This created bidding wars and home sales that went for well above asking price.

Since then, home prices have soared, while mortgage rates hit over 7% in 2022. Recently, rates have dipped, giving buyers a glimpse of affordability. But homes are still sitting on the market longer than they once did, and price cuts have become more common. So it shouldn't be a surprise that a spike in such searches has occurred as homes are being listed for longer.

"More sellers have come back to the housing market; across the country, we saw about 4% more new listings in 2025 than in 2024," Pendleton said. "Buyers haven't come back at the same rate; that's allowed housing inventory to climb. In other words, there are more homes for sale and not enough buyers to snap them up."

Data from Redfin $(RKT)$ shows just how wide the gap has become: Sellers outnumbered buyers by 44% in January (about 600,000 more), the widest gap since 2013.

In turn, lower demand has led to price cuts or other incentives as sellers try to attract buyers.

A significant number of builders offered incentives or cut prices on new homes in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Specifically, 36% of builders reduced their prices, with the average reduction being 6%. What's more, 65% of builders provided financial incentives to try to lure buyers, including mortgage-rate buydowns, closing cost assistance or design upgrades.

While many sellers have considered price cuts, others are less inclined to do so, which may be why their homes are still listed.

"Sellers are humans," Pendleton said. "Many are still anchored to prices of the past. They have their heart set on the price they saw their neighbor's house sell for when the market was at its peak four years ago."

See: Mortgage rates fall below 6% for the first time since 2022, giving buyers a glimpse of affordability

If you're one of those people who's searched for ways to get your real-estate sale over the line, here are some tips for the 2026 housing market:

Maximize exposure

Making sure your home is listed on every single major listing service is key to maximizing the amount of eyeballs that see your home.

Research shows that homes sold on the open market through multiple listing services sell faster and for about $5,000 more. While private home sales do have their perks - like lower agent commissions and increased privacy - they can often take longer to execute.

Screen appeal is the new curb appeal

No longer are the first impressions of a home seen at the curb - they are now viewed on a screen.

Making sure your online listing stands out is key, but it's not just making sure you have well-taken photographs. It's also about making sure sellers have all the features that buyers want to see in 2026.

"Sellers need to take advantage of the latest digital tools to make their listing stand out online," Pendleton said. Those include 3D home tours, interactive floor plans and high-resolution photography. Listings with such features often go under contract in the first 14 days when compared to similar nearby listings without those features.

Hire an experienced real-estate agent

Hiring a person who has their real-estate license is not that same as hiring an experienced agent.

On most online real-estate platforms, users can research an agent's profile, look at previous clients' reviews and see their history of actually selling homes.

"This is not the time to hire your cousin's co-worker's friend's spouse who just got their real-estate license," Pendleton said. "Sellers need an experienced agent who understands their neighborhood market dynamics and has the right pricing and marketing strategy for today's market - not 2021's market."

The Google search interest about selling homes comes as the average 30-year mortgage rate decreased to 5.98% this week, down from 6.76% a year ago. Such a reduction - the first time that 30-year fixed mortgage rates have dipped into the 5% range in three-and-a-half years - could help boost interest from buyers in 2026.

Read on: February's 'panic' rotation in stocks sets the stage for more tumult in March

-Weston Blasi

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February 28, 2026 09:00 ET (14:00 GMT)

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