Different metro areas in the U.S. have different timelines for selling a house. You could be looking at Miami-Dade County with 91 days. It sounds like an alarming number. Those in San Jose may report a relatively fast selling timeline within only 15 days.

There is another problem as well. Different platforms use varying mechanisms to report the number of days.

On Redfin, you might observe the median DOM from listing to closing.

Zillow.com might report days from pending to actual sale. These days are calculated once the house goes under the contract. Many properties can take 15-45 days to sell once the offer has been accepted. That timeline depends on the buyer’s mortgage approval and due diligence period.

The confusion among different numbers makes it challenging to realistically plan for a sale. It’s best to plan for the worst-case scenario and hope for the best.

Days on the market indicate a typical timeline that doesn’t include the weeks you spend preparing the home, and it does not include the 30-45 days most people spend on closing after the offer is accepted. As a homeowner, you need to plan around prep time, days on market, and the closing itself.

The Data: 5 Fastest and 5 Slowest Areas

The numbers below come from Redfin's metro-level data for single-family homes, current through June 2026. They reflect median days on market, the point where half of homes sold faster and half sold slower.

Fastest-Selling Metros

Slowest-Selling Metros

What's Driving the Fast Markets

Fast-selling markets tend to have some combination of the following:

• A large pool of buyers who can actually afford the homes
• A shortage of desirable, move-in-ready inventory
• Strong employment or population fundamentals
• A relatively affordable price point compared with the income base
• A large gap between the number of people who want a particular type of home and the number of those homes available

San Jose sits in the heart of Silicon Valley and has an exceptionally high concentration of technology and highly paid workers.

San Francisco's resurgence is heavily connected to AI. Recent reporting shows investors are pouring money back into San Francisco residential development because rents have surged almost 23% YoY, while the city has extremely limited new housing supply. Developers are once again pursuing projects because the economics have improved.

Indianapolis is relatively affordable compared to other cities in our list. People don’t need a Silicon Valley-level income to buy a house there, which means a bigger buyer pool can access the inventory.

The same goes for Saint Louis, which is not a high-growth Sun Belt market. Recent analysis highlighted St. Louis' unusually long-term affordability: inflation-adjusted home prices have risen only around 6% over 134 years, compared with dramatically larger increases in many coastal markets. The region has historically maintained abundant housing supply and relatively slow population growth.

What's Driving the Slow Markets

Miami-Dade County leads with the highest number of days required to close a deal. There are high property prices alongside property ownership expenses such as high taxes, insurance, and HOA costs. The condo segment is especially sensitive because associations now have to set aside a bigger reserve along with high assessment fees.

Broward County faces the same problem. The condo market has weakened, but condo inventory is bigger than single-family homes. West Palm Beach is benefiting from strong demand and wealth migration, but buyers are increasingly selective because of high prices and the overall cost of owning in South Florida.

Honolulu faces an affordability problem. Fewer buyers can afford the high prices along with rising interest rates. Austin, TX, has 112% more sellers than buyers. Buyers have more choices with an increase in inventory.

Median Days on Market Could be Misleading

• Most homeowners need 4 to 8 weeks to prepare a home for sale. You need a plan for repairs, cleaning, staging, photography, and listing. Then we talk about the time a property spends “on the market."

• Properties in San Jose spend around 15 days, whereas for Miami-Dade County, a home could take 91 days.
• Once the property goes under contract, it could take another 30-45 days to cover inspection, appraisal, and final loan approval.
• A homeowner in San Jose is looking at around 10-16 weeks in total, but a property in Miami-Dade County may take more than 21-27 weeks, which is closer to six months.

What This Means for Your Sale

If you are thinking about a sale, review the local numbers and not the national average. There are a few things worth checking:

• Check your specific metro, not the national median. The 76-day gap between San Jose and Miami-Dade shows how much this varies. Adjust your timeline based on the actual market data.
• Build in prep time. If your home needs repairs, staging, or decluttering, add 4 to 8 weeks before your ideal list date, not after it.
• Price it right the first time. Nationally, 20% of the listings saw a price cut in July, 2026. Overpricing is one of the most common ways sellers add unnecessary weeks to their timeline.
• Plan around closing, not just listing. Even a fast-selling market still adds 30 to 45 days of closing time after you accept an offer.
• Watch your local supply. Markets with less than three months of supply tend to favor sellers. Markets with more than five months of supply tend to favor buyers and stretch timelines.

Every day added to the timeline matters because you need to pay holding costs, including mortgage, insurance, and other expenses. That’s why it matters to understand the median DOM and see how that applies to your specific selling situation. For situations demanding certainty, a traditional listing should be skipped. Seek a cash transaction if you are in a slow market that might add unnecessary weeks to the timeline.