Is It A Buyers Market? It Depends

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Lisa Sturtevant PhD Bright MLS, Housing Economist

Inventory is climbing, which has been welcome news for prospective homebuyers. However, the inventory picture is very different depending on where you are and the type of home you’re looking for.

According to data from realtor.com, at the end of May 2025, total inventory across the U.S. was at about 90% of the May 2019 level. But a very distinct pattern emerges when you look at inventory by metro area. Inventory levels surpass 2019 levels in southern metros in Florida, Texas, and Arizona as well as in Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. By contrast, inventory across the Midwest and Northeast, as well as in Southern California, remains below 2019 levels.

Mid-Atlantic inventory remains tight

In the Bright MLS service area, which covers six states and the District of Columbia, there were 42,981 active listings on the market at the end of May 2025. The number of active listings is now 25.1% higher than it was a year ago and inventory has been increasing across the Mid-Atlantic region for 16 consecutive months, as more homes are listed for sale and properties remain on the market longer.

However, despite the rapid rise, inventory is still well below pre-pandemic levels in most local markets across the Bright MLS service area. Overall, May 2025 inventory is just 64% of the May 2019 level across Bright’s footprint. In fact, there are just a handful of counties in the region where inventory has surpassed 2019 levels.

The urban area housing markets tend to have more inventory. In both Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., inventory is above pre-pandemic levels. In the close-in suburbs of Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia, inventory has also surpassed what was available to buyers in 2019.

There are many more local markets where inventory is still less than half of what was available in 2019. In most of the Philadelphia suburbs, for example, the number of active listings in May 2025 is less than 50% of May 2019 levels.

So, while more inventory is a welcome change for homebuyers in the marketplace, inventory is still relatively tight across much of the Mid-Atlantic region and sellers do still have the upper hand in the market.

read full Bright MLS article

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Scott Bradley Brixen – ListReports Blog

Real Estate News

Interest rates for the average 30-yr, fixed-rate mortgage according to Freddie Mac’s PMMS hit:

4% in March 😟
5% in April 😰
6% in early-September 😨
7% (well, almost) in late-September 😱

The slowdown continues, but we have yet to see the impact of the most recent (massive) jump in mortgage rates on homebuyer demand.

August existing home sales dropped for the 7th straight month. Price growth decelerated further to “just” 8% YoY. [Source: Realtor.com]

Meanwhile, pending sales for August dropped 2% MoM and 24% YoY. The NAR now forecasts existing home sales to fall 15% YoY in 2022, with new home sales down 21% YoY. [Source: NAR]

Case-Shiller Index

Home price growth slowed to 15.8% YoY in July, from 18.1% YoY in June. That may not seem like much, but it’s the biggest 1-month drop in the index’s history.

Case-Shiller is the gold standard for home price appreciation because it tracks the sales prices of very similar homes across 20 big cities. It’s an ‘apples to apples’ comparison. But that accuracy comes at a cost…the data is 2 months old by the time we get it.

Mortgage Market

An extremely volatile week for the bond market (after the Fed raised rates 75bps) saw 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages briefly exceed 7% [with no points], before dropping back to around 6.75%. [Source: Mortgage News Daily]

Freddie Mac’s closely watched PMMS survey saw the interest rate on the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage climb to 6.7%. Keep in mind that this figure includes an average 0.9 points purchased. Without those points, the rate would have been at/ahead of 7%.

Still a Seller’s Market

Demand is falling and inventory has risen, but in most markets, well-priced homes are still selling very, very quickly.

In fact, the average Days on Market for sold properties has only edged up from 14 (in June & July) to 16 in August. In 2011 that figure was 96! Looked at another way, 81% of homes sold in August had been on the market less than a month.

That said, the average number of offers received for each property sold has plunged from a frenzied 5.5 in April 2022 to 2.5 in August. That’s actually getting pretty close to “normal” pre-pandemic levels of competition.

National Housing Stats

They Said It

“Success demands singleness of purpose. You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects. It is those who concentrate on one thing at a time who advance in this world.” — Gary Keller, The One Thing

“Our house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy” — Robyn Griggs Lawrence

Inspiration

The average duration of homeownership in the US is around 12 years. So if someone in your sphere of influence (SOI) bought a home in the last few years, there’s no reason to actively stay in touch with them, right? Wrong. Take the inverse of 12 (that’s 1/12) and you get 8.3%.

This means that, mathematically, 8% of your SOI is going to move in the next year…for reasons that you (and often they) couldn’t have predicted. Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” In real estate, you probably lose 80–90% of the past clients that you don’t stay in contact with.

For Those Sellers and Buyers On The Fence

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Inman News Latest Market & Economy Report

Homesnap found that American homeowners will spend an average of 25.1% of their monthly income on their housing while renters will spend 37.9%

Despite high home prices, putting off a purchase to wait for a better deal may not be the best idea after all. Long-term, owning is more affordable than renting almost anywhere in the country, according to a new report released by home search platform Homesnap.

Looking at factors like the average monthly wages, monthly rents, monthly rental insurance payments and median home values, Homesnap has found that owning is more affordable than renting in 94.39 percent of cities in the United States.

*Real estate industry professionals from around the world turn to Inman first for accurate, innovative and timely information about the business. Known for its award-winning journalism, cutting-edge technology coverage, in-depth educational opportunities, and forward-thinking events, Inman is the industry’s leading source of real estate information.