Nearly Half of U.S. Home Sellers Offer Concessions as Buyer's Market Deepens
Redfin data shows 44.7% of August home sales included seller concessions, the highest share in years, as sellers outnumber buyers by 58% and mortgage rates near 7%.
Home sellers across the United States are increasingly willing to sweeten the deal to close a sale, with new data showing that concessions were included in 44.7% of home sales in August. That marks a 2.1 percentage-point increase from a year earlier and the highest share for any August since at least 2020, according to a report from the brokerage and property search platform Redfin.
The surge in incentives reflects a housing market that has tilted decisively in favor of buyers. In August, sellers outnumbered buyers by 58%, the largest gap Redfin has ever recorded. With mortgage rates hovering near 7%, many prospective buyers are hesitant to take on the added borrowing costs, cooling demand. Those who remain in the market face less competition and are using that leverage to negotiate better terms.
Concessions now go well beyond the traditional mortgage rate buy-downs or seller-paid repairs. According to the report, sellers are offering household appliances, credits totaling $10,000 to $20,000, and in some cases, unusual perks designed to stand out. One real estate agent in Atlanta arranged a free week-long stay in an Airbnb owned by the home's seller as part of a purchase deal. Another agent in Charlotte, North Carolina, threw in an all-expenses-paid cruise.
Some sellers are combining concessions with price cuts. In August, 15.8% of homes nationwide saw both a price reduction and a concession, up from 15.6% a year earlier and the highest share since Redfin began tracking that metric. The dual strategy suggests that many sellers are eager to close deals even if it means accepting less overall.
Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said concessions are an often-overlooked data point that can provide a more nuanced picture of the market. While the national median home price rose about 2% year-over-year as of August, appearing to signal that homes are getting more expensive despite weaker demand, Fairweather speculated that factoring in concessions would tell a different story. «This is more of a guesstimate,» Fairweather said. «But I think if we were to quantify all these concessions…we would see that home prices are down, and people are getting better deals.»
The geographic split in concession activity offers further evidence of a buyer's market. The vast majority of cities where concessions are most common are in the Sun Belt, where a wave of post-pandemic construction sought to accommodate an influx of remote workers. Atlanta had the highest prevalence, with 72.8% of homebuying deals including an incentive. Charlotte followed at 67.9%. By contrast, the Bay Area and New York saw far fewer concessions, with New York at just 5.7% of sales and San Francisco at 18.6%. Those metropolitan areas have strong housing markets, where wealthy buyers keep supply tight.
Whether the buyer's advantage persists will depend on broader economic forces. Inflation has been buffeted by tariffs and the Iran war, and concerns about a growing AI bubble loom over markets. The Federal Reserve's recent rate hike, along with expected increases for the rest of the year, has already been priced in, Fairweather said, but other macroeconomic shocks—such as a change in trade policy or a bursting AI bubble—could quickly reshape the market.
Over the longer term, Fairweather pointed to a demographic shift that could keep the advantage with buyers: baby boomers. Today, the older generation accounts for about 42% of home purchases and 52% of sales, according to data. While restricted supply has kept many Gen Z and millennial buyers out of the market, that will eventually change as boomers pass on their homes. «They're going to be passing on their homes slowly but surely over the next decade or two, and that will add more inventory to the market,» Fairweather said. «So definitely not the biggest factor right now, but probably the most persistent factor.»
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