In the latest sign we may be nearing a buyer’s market, home sellers gave concessions to buyers at almost record-high rates in the first quarter of 2025, according to research from Redfin.

The brokerage found that home sellers gave concession to buyers in 44.4% of U.S. home-sale transactions in the first quarter, up from 39.3% one year earlier. Redfin reported that the record rate for concessions was 45.1% at the start of 2023.

In the first three months of the year, Redfin found that roughly 2 in 5 sellers gave concessions, which included providing something that helped reduce the buyer’s total cost of purchasing a home. These may involve money for repairs, closing costs or even mortgage-rate buydowns. It does not include a seller lowering the list price of a home or a negotiated lower price.

Redfin stated that homebuyer demand is sluggish due to high home prices, elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty. As a result, sellers are facing more competition as inventory is at a five-year high.

Seattle led the 24 major U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed with 71.3% of home-sale transactions involving concessions. That is nearly double the 36.4% share of Seattle home deals involving concessions one year ago. Portland, Ore., was next with 63.9% of home sales involving concessions. That percentage increased 14.2% from the previous year. After Portland, the cities with the highest percentage of home sales that included concessions were Atlanta, at 61.5%, San Diego (60.7%) and Denver (59.2%).

But not all cities are seeing increasing concessions. New York City saw the largest drop in concessions to buyers, with just 5.5% of home sales including breaks in costs, down 15.7% from a year earlier and the lowest share among the metros Redfin analyzed. Other top cities experiencing declining concessions included Miami, where housing concessions were down 13.1 percentage points from a year ago to 33.8%, San Antonio (down 10.9 percentage points to 44.4%), Tampa, Fla. (down 9.2 percentage points to 33.9%), and Phoenix (down 3.5 percentage points to 51.2%).

Redfin reported that overall housing prices are falling in parts of Florida and Texas. In response, sellers have already begun pricing their homes lower to avoid the need to offer concessions.

Some areas of the country are experiencing both lower prices and increased concessions. Redfin found that 21.5% of home sales during the first quarter had a final sales price below the asking price in addition to a concession. That rate was up from 18.5% last year. About 16.2% of home sales had a price cut and a concession; and 9.9% of home sales had all three: a concession, a price cut and a final sale price below the original list price.