Redfin has officially called it: We’re in a buyer’s market.
The real estate brokerage company reported Monday that there are a record $698 billion worth of homes for sale in the U.S., which is up 20.3% from last year. And homes representing $330 billion of that total have been on the market for 60 days or longer, contributing to a 16.7% year-over-year increase in housing inventory.
That analysis comes on the heels of last week’s reveal by Redfin that the U.S. housing market has nearly half a million more sellers than buyers, which is the largest disparity in the company’s records dating back to 2013. On a percentage basis, there are now 33.7% more sellers than buyers, a sharp increase from the 6.5% difference a year ago.
All of which means that the smaller pool of prospective homebuyers holds more power to negotiate lower selling prices.
Redfin characterizes 31 of the top 50 U.S. metropolitan areas as buyer’s markets, which it defines as a market where there are over 10% more sellers than buyers.
Miami, where sellers outnumber buyers by about a 3 to 1 ratio, tops Redfin’s rankings of strongest markets for homebuyers. Other metros in the company’s top five include Austin, Texas, and three additional Florida cities: West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville.
“Stale inventory” is the term Redfin uses to describe homes that have been on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract. The real estate brokerage reports that 44% of April listings had gone stale, which is the highest share for that month since 2020. Additionally, the total value of stale inventory was $331 billion, which is up 20.5% year over year.
“The record-high dollar value of all homes listed for sale is one way to quantify this buyer’s market,” Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research, said in a press release. “We expect rising inventory, weakened demand and the prevalence of stale supply to push home prices down 1% by the end of this year, which should improve affordability for buyers because incomes are still going up.”
