In August, sellers outnumbered buyers across the US by 58%, according to Redfin. That is the widest gap in the brokerage’s records.
The result is a market where sellers are paying to close deals. Redfin data show that 44.7% of August home sales included seller concessions, up 2.1 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest share for the month since at least 2020. Business Insider, citing the same data, put the figure at around 45%, against 43% the year before.
What sellers are offering
The sweeteners run from mortgage rate buy-downs and repair credits to stranger perks, including all-expenses-paid cruises. Concessions often come to $10,000 to $20,000. Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said that once they are counted, the real cost of a home is probably lower than official figures suggest. National median prices are up a nominal 2% from a year ago.
Price cuts are rising too. Nearly 16% of sellers offered both a concession and a price cut, and around 20% of active listings have had a price drop, up 0.6 percentage points year on year. Supply is helping buyers: the National Association of Realtors reported that homes for sale hit a 10-year high in August.
The Sun Belt leads
Where new homes went up after the pandemic, sellers are working hardest. Atlanta topped the list, with 72.8% of deals carrying incentives. Charlotte followed at 67.9%, and Business Insider put Phoenix at around 67%. Tight markets look different. Concessions appeared in only 5.7% of New York sales and 18.6% in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mortgage rates are the brake. Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 6.95% in the latest week, and other national surveys show it well above 7%. Many would-be buyers are staying out, and the market has sat in what Business Insider called a yearslong deep freeze. Capital Economics estimates 2026 is on track to be the weakest year for home sales since 2011. Most forecasters expect rates to stay above 6% for now.
Redfin’s numbers also hint at what could change the picture: trade policy tensions, the effect of the Iran war on inflation, and uncertainty over the AI sector. Longer term, aging baby boomers, who hold a large share of homes, are expected to list gradually over the next decade.
Sources
- US Home Sellers Turn to Incentives as Market Shifts in Favor of Buyers
- Good news, homebuyers: The market is tilting in your favor as more sellers offer concessions
