Realtor.com: Buyers Show Increased Interest in Fixer-Uppers
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Realtor.com, Santa Clara, Calif., found that properties marketed as fixer-uppers are garnering more interest from prospective buyers.
Houses that fit the definition got 52% more page views per property in July compared with similar older and more affordable homes. That compares with 18.7% more views for fixer-uppers in 2021.
And, searches for “fixer-upper” on the Realtor.com platform in July were more than triple the volume of four years earlier.
In general, these homes are priced 54.2% lower than the median single-family home, and smaller and older. The median listing price for a home marketed as a fixer-upper was $200,000 as of July, compared with the median listing price for all single-family homes nationwide of $436,250.
Per Realtor.com, fixer-uppers have a median square footage of 1,628 compared with 2,000 for all single-family homes. The “typical” fixer-upper has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and was built in 1958. Realtor.com only considered houses more than 20 years old for the analysis.
Homes marketed as fixer-uppers take slightly longer to sell than comparable homes, with the median days on the market for a fixer-upper before it sells coming up in at 53. That compares with other below-median-priced homes over 20 years old, at 50.5 days.
However, that gap is shrinking–in July 2021, fixer-uppers were on the market for 39 days compared with 33 for other below-median-priced homes over 20 years old.
There were 79,175 fixer-uppers on the market in July 2025, making up about 5.2% of all single-family homes for sale.
“Fixer-uppers give buyers a way to break into the housing market at a time when affordability is still stretched thin,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “For those with the vision and a toolbox, fixer-uppers provide both a starting point in the market and the chance to create a home that’s truly their own. For sellers, listing their home as a fixer-upper at a lower price may generate more interest online than if they spend extra money on upgrades to make it move-in-ready.”
