WRE NEWS
Last month saw a significant supply and demand imbalance in the housing market, with an estimated 36.8% more home sellers than buyers (or 528,769 more, in numerical terms). According to data from Redfin, this marked the largest gap in records dating back to 2013.
Redfin defines a market with over 10% more sellers than buyers as a buyer’s market, adding this definition would mean it has been a buyer’s market since May 2024. There have been over 30% more sellers than buyers since April.
However, it is only a buyer’s market if prospective homeowners can afford to purchase a residence, which is not always the case in today’s economy. The number of homebuyers in the dropped 1.7% month-over-month in October to an estimated 1.44 million, the lowest level on record aside from the start of the Covid pandemic in April 2020. Sellers are also not as plentiful, with 0.5% fewer from September to October for an estimated total of 1.97 million. That marks the fifth straight monthly decline in the number of sellers.
“There’s a shortage of both first-time buyers and repeat buyers because mortgage rates and home prices have gone up so much in recent years,” said Matt Purdy, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in the Denver area. “At the same time, there are homeowners who need to sell because they have to relocate for a job or are getting divorced. Sellers want top dollar because they’re focused on recouping their investment, but buyers are focused on having a low monthly payment, so there’s this gap in expectations that’s making it hard for buyers and sellers to see eye to eye. Oftentimes, the buyer ends up winning the negotiation because they have options—there are a lot of sellers who are desperate to make a deal happen.”