United States Buyer Demand Flashes Green, Deals Stir
Is the U.S. Housing Market a Buyer’s Market? Nationally, the U.S. housing market is shifting away from clear seller dominance, but the data do not yet confirm a full buyer’s market. Inventory has improved, with Realtor.com showing a 17% annual rise in September 2025 and Bankrate citing 4.6 months of supply, up from 3.8. National active housing inventory also rose about 25% year over year, reflecting a broader inventory increase even as supply remains below pre-pandemic norms. Yet that remains below the roughly six-month level usually needed for buyer control. Signals of Growing Leverage Redfin’s March 2026 data showed 1.929 million homes for sale, while median days on market rose to 55. Price drops reached 17.6%, and the sale-to-list ratio slipped to 98.7%. These shifts suggest improving leverage for buyers, helped in some areas by seasonal trends and easing mortgage affordability pressure. Still, national conditions look changing and mixed, with balanced conditions more evident than ...