The housing market is starting to look better for buyers as mortgage rates fall and for-sale listings increase.

Realtor.com said Thursday that the number of active listings in September was 34% higher than the same month a year ago, the most since Ap💮ril 2020, but still well below pre-pandemic levels. Those newly listed homes weren’t selling quickly, though: the average house sat on the market for 55 days, the longest for🥃 any September in the last five years.

How Did The Housing Market Get Here?

The report showed a housing market shifting away from depressed inventory, stifled sales, and soaringꦫ prices of recent years.

With rates on 30-year mortgages hovering around 7% for much of the last year, many homeowners have been reluctant to sell and trade ultra-low rates they secured during the pandemic when the average rate got as low as 2.65%, according to Freddie Mac.

Since then, rates have fallen as inflation has cooled and the Federal Reserve has cut its benchmark interest rate—the average rate this week was 6.12%, according to Freddie Mac, down from 7.79% last October.

While those rate cuts have shaken some sellers loose, they haven’t fallen enough to break the gridlock that’s slowed down sales for the past two years. A separate report last month by the National Association of Realtors showed sales fell in August despite lower mortgage rates.

Still, economists expect those lower rates to entice more buyers in the coming months as the financial calculations for buying a house get more favorable.

“It’s likely that some sidelined buyers are coming back onto the field as both their buying power and home choices increase,” Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.൩com, wrote in a press relജease.