According to recent reports from Redfin and Realtor.com, US homebuyers are gaining the upper hand, but sellers haven’t completely lost their advantage.
Redfin’s data reveals median home prices rose 2.2 per cent year over year during the four weeks ending September 14.
This price increase comes as sellers are slowly retreating from the market, with new listings hovering around a 1 per cent annual increase or decrease for three consecutive months.
Total housing inventory is up 9.9 per cent year over year, marking the smallest increase since March 2024.
Meanwhile, pending home sales barely managed a 0.8 per cent annual gain as buyers paused activity in hopes of further mortgage rate drops following the Federal Reserve’s recent short-term rate cut.
Realtor.com’s analysis shows homes are taking longer to sell, with median days on market increasing from 53 to 60 days in August.
This extended timeline has prompted sellers to cut prices on approximately 20.3 per cent of listings, while concessions are making a comeback after being nearly absent in recent years.
“In a buyer’s market, sellers can typically expect it to take longer to sell a home, and they may have to reduce their home price, either directly in the listing or by accepting a below-asking-price offer, to ultimately make a sale,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale told Inman.
“Buyers can expect that they will not only have more options to choose from, but also have more time to consider their choices.”
The market momentum varies significantly by location.
Buyers have the strongest advantage in cities like Miami, Austin, Orlando, New York, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Riverside, where inventory ranges between 6.1 and 9.7 months of supply.
The traditional benchmark for a buyer’s market is six months of supply.
However, 23 markets still favour sellers, with another 20 markets falling somewhere in between.
The current housing landscape represents more of a transition than a complete market flip, according to Hale.
The market has consistently favoured sellers since 2016, when the months supply averaged 4.4 months across the year.
Since then, it has averaged four months or lower, creating challenging conditions for buyers.
The persistent seller’s market over the past decade can be attributed to housing construction not keeping pace with demand.
