Home sellers are increasingly likely to concede
May 1, 2025
- Home asking prices and home sales prices now have the biggest gap in years.
- The gap is because list prices have been growing twice as fast as sales prices.
- Real estate is now in buyer’s market and economic conditions are giving homebuyers cold feet, meaning home sellers oftenhave to concede.
Home sellers are often asking too much after real-estatemoved into a buyer’s market for the first time in six years in January.
The typical home seller wasasking for $39,000 more than what a homebuyer is willing to pay as of March, the biggest gap since 2020,according to an analysis by real-estate brokerage Redfin.
The gap represents a 9% difference between asking prices and home sales prices.
The gapfollows an acceleration of asking prices: Redfin said asking prices have recently growntwice as fast as sales prices.
But home sellers need to adjust their expectations since homebuyers now have more advantages in the market, said Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa, in a statement.
Homebuyers today have the upper hand because theyre outnumbered by sellers, and thats a tough pill for sellers to swallow, de la Campa said. When buyers and sellers are on different planets, one side eventually has to give in, and its looking like its going to be sellers this time.”
There are already signs that some home sellers are throwing in the towel, he said.
Concessions often necessary
Home sellers are giving concessions, which are deals such as paying for homeowner association fees, at near-record levels, home listings are at a five-year high and home sales slowed to their slowest pace in six years in March, Redfin said.
Real-estate website Zillow is also predicting that home values drop 1.9% in 2025.
“Rising inventory, price drops and seller concessions indicate this is already starting to happen, and sale-price growth will likely continue to slow as a result, de la Campa said.
Still, home sellers are often harkening back to better deals they could’ve gotten in the past,said Chaley McVay, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Portland, Oregon, in a statement.
Theyre holding onto this idea that they lost money. I explain that they didnt lose money because however much money they could have made in the past is hypothetical money,” McVay said. “The most important thing you can do as a seller right now is fairly price your home.”
“If you overprice, chances are youll get no activity, and then it will become even harder to recoup your investment, he added.
McVay said that homebuyers should try to negotiate if they find a home they want that above their budget.
“A lot of house hunters are hesitant to offer under the asking price, but in this market, its not out of the ordinary to see sellers lower their prices and give concessions, he said.
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