If you’re looking to buy a home, the housing market might finally be tipping in your favor.
That might be hard to believe, given record-high home prices and mortgage rates. But the number of sellers relative to buyers shows that the housing market has been leaning more in favor of buyers over the last several months, according to a new Redfin analysis of listings data.
The real estate site estimated that sellers outpaced buyers on the market by around 500,000, or 35% in August. That was similar to figures seen in June and July, when there were at least 34% more sellers than buyers on the market.
Data shows that the gap between buyers and sellers was the largest across all three months, going back to at least 2013. The difference between buyers and sellers briefly peaked at around 33% during the pandemic.
For those looking to buy a home, it means the tides might be turning for a key problem that’s persisted over the past several years: a lack of inventory.
The stat is just the latest data point showing that the home-buying outlook is starting to brighten. It comes after several years of the housing market being frozen, thanks to high home prices and high mortgage rates that have left both buyers and sellers sidelined.
“Of course, it’s only a buyer’s market for those who can afford to buy,” Redfin said in its analysis.
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The median sale price of a US home eased to $410,800 in the second quarter, according to data from the US Census Bureau. That’s down slightly from its peak in 2022, but up 29% over the last five years.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate, meanwhile, has dipped to 6.26% in the last week, still well above borrowing costs during the pandemic, when mortgage rates were at historic lows of 2%-3%.
It’s unclear how long sellers will continue to outpace buyers. The recent decline in mortgage rates has already sparked fresh demand among Americans who had been waiting for the right time to purchase a home.
Mortgage applications jumped 9% in the week ending September 5 as the decline in borrowing costs began to steepen, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. That marked the strongest week for mortgage activity since 2022, the group said.