Inman News
Inventory is up and homes are sitting longer on the market — potentially benefiting homebuyers. Lower mortgage rates are also giving the market a boost.
Homebuyers this year are scoring the biggest discounts of any fall season since 2019 as the market carries on at a snail’s pace.
The typical home that sold in September went for 1.4 percent less than its final list price, the biggest discount in September in six years, Redfin reported.
Homes also typically spent 50 days on the market, the slowest September pace in almost the last 10 years, the company said.
As demand has waned, buyers have largely gained the upper hand — though sellers have also pulled back from the market, with active listings falling by about 1 percent.
The share of homes selling above list price, the average sale-to-list-price ratio and share of homes selling within two weeks all fell to their lowest September level in the last six years, Redfin reported.
About one-quarter of homes sold above list price in September, down from 28.5 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, the average sale-to-list-price ratio was at 98.6 percent, down from 99.1 percent the year prior. The share of homes that went under contract within two weeks of being listed was 32.8 percent in September, down from 34.9 percent the year before.
The security offered by rising inventory has left buyers with little urgency in this market, and high costs and economic uncertainty are further dissuading some buyers who might otherwise transact.
The higher share of sellers in the market — 36.7 percent more than buyers, a near-record — also provides buyers with a lot more leverage.
“Homebuyers have extremely high expectations,” Houston Redfin agent Roze Swartz said in the company’s report. “Some of them remember being preapproved for a 3 percent mortgage rate during the pandemic, which meant they could afford a $450,000 house. Now that rates, insurance costs and property taxes have gone up, they can only afford a $325,000 house, but still have $450,000 expectations.”
Although national inventory levels are still healthy, fewer listings coming to market over the last few months have caused sales prices to tick upwards. The median home sale price rose 1.7 percent on an annual basis in September to $435,545, which is the highest September level on record.
Declining mortgage rates have also given homebuyers incentive to transact, Redfin and Zillow both reported.
As mortgage rates dipped in September, the number of buyers markets rose from six last year to 15 this year, Zillow said. After a 3 percent annual decline in new listings in August, those rebounded in September, with new listings increasing 3 percent on an annual basis.
Existing-home sales also saw a 4.5 percent boost year over year in September, Redfin reported, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.25 million. Total home sales also rose by 3.4 percent on an annual basis to the highest October level since 2022.
“September’s market showed surprising stamina,” Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow said in the company’s report. “Typically, both buyers and sellers step back this time of year, but lower mortgage rates and stock market highs provided a second wind heading into fall. This time of year can be a sweet spot for buyers. There’s often less competition than in the spring and more time to make sure the home’s a perfect fit. Sellers who stay in the market into the holidays may be more open to negotiating.”
Fall can often present as a “sweet spot” for buyers, Zillow’s report noted, since there’s typically less competition than in the spring, more homes on the market and sellers who are incentivized to sell by the holidays — which means they’re likely more open to giving concessions.