The gap between homebuyers and sellers widened in October as the number of buyers fell to its lowest level on record, according to Redfin, with an estimated 70.5% more sellers than buyers active in the housing market.

Among the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas, only three — all in the Northeast — were listed as seller’s markets: Nassau County, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; and Montgomery County, Pa. That ties April 2020 for the fewest seller’s markets in the digital real estate brokerage’s records.

All three of those markets saw their gaps tighten in October, however, pushing them closer to buyer-market territory. Milwaukee, which was a seller’s market in September, became balanced in October, meaning it favored neither side.

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“Buyers looking in these pockets of the Northeast should be prepared for a very different experience than buyers elsewhere in the country,” said Asad Khan, senior economist at Redfin. “They may have less room to negotiate, especially on desirable, move-in-ready homes, and could face multiple-offer situations.

Khan said buyers shopping in these markets should know their budget, be ready to act when the right home comes along, and avoid getting swept up in bidding wars.

Elsewhere, the story was different. October was the sixth consecutive month in which sellers outnumbered homebuyers. Redfin says this trend has yielded buyers more negotiating power than at any point in its records, which date back to 2013.

The record-low buyer count is part of the reason. Redfin estimated there were 895,752 homebuyers in the market nationwide in October, down 2% from September. It put the number of sellers at 1,526,984 — the most since March 2020 and up 0.9% from the previous month.

Redfin defines a buyer’s market as one in which sellers outnumber buyers by more than 10%, and a seller’s market as the reverse. A gap below 10% is considered balanced.