A new data report from Redfin determined the current housing market had an estimated 44% more home sellers than buyers. This is up from 30% more than one year earlier and represents the second largest gap in records dating back to 2013 – the largest gap was 45% last December.
Redfin defines a market with over 10% more sellers than buyers as a buyer’s market. Using that definition, the nation has been a buyer’s market since May 2024.
However, the number of homebuyers in the market fell 1% month-over-month and 8% year-over-year in January to an estimated 1.36 million, the lowest level on record. The number of sellers in the market fell 1% month-over-month to an estimated 1.96 million – the largest decline since June 2023 and the lowest level since February 2025 – while on a year-over-year basis the number of sellers rose 2%.
Redfin found that only five of the nation’s 50 major metros can be considered as a seller’s market. Newark, New Jersey an estimated 31% fewer sellers than buyers, followed by New York’s Nassau County, NY (-29%), Milwaukee (-26%), Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County (-26%), and New Brunswick, New Jersey (-17%).
On average, home prices rose 5% year over year across the five seller’s markets in January, compared with a 3% gain across the six balanced markets and a 1% increase across the 39 buyer’s markets. The median home sale price in Milwaukee rose 11% year-over-year in January, the largest increase among the top 50 metros.
On the flip side, the strongest buyer’s market in January was Miami, which had an estimated 159% more home sellers than buyers. Next came Fort Lauderdale (128%), Austin (124%), Nashville (120%), and San Antonio (114%).
