At this point, sellers appear to be more eager than buyers
of ConsumerAffairsMay 16, 2025
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Newly pending sales in April fell 2.5% compared to a year ago, despite lower average mortgage rates.
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Sellers are more enthusiastic than buyers; new listings rose 7.6% over last year.
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Mortgage payments are 1.3% smaller than last year due to lower rates and moderating home value growth.
The spring real estate season has arrived but its not exactly blooming. According to the latest housing market report from Zillow, while the market is seeing the expected uptick in activity with warmer weather, a chill of economic uncertainty is keeping many prospective buyers on the sidelines.
April saw a 3.4% increase in newly pending sales from March, signaling growing buyer interest. But on a year-over-year basis, sales still lag 2.5% behind 2024s numbers. Meanwhile, sellers appear undeterred: new listings jumped 9.8% from the previous month and 7.6% from the prior year.
More helpful to buyers, housing inventory is up a staggering 20% annually, reaching levels not seen since mid-2020, giving buyers more choice, but not necessarily more confidence.
“Many households in April were frozen by economic anxieties from job uncertainty to volatile investment portfolios, said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow. Now that some of that fog is lifting, we may see momentum build as home shoppers take advantage of more favorable conditions.
Affordability eases
One bright spot for buyers has been the modest relief in mortgage rates. Monthly payments are down 1.3% compared to last April, offering a slight boost to affordability. Yet this hasnt been enough to overcome the weight of broader economic concern, especially among first-time buyers who are more vulnerable to financial headwinds.
Sellers, by contrast, are often moving from a position of strength. With built-up equity and generally stronger financial footing, they are re-entering the market more confidently. This divergence is leading to a curious mismatch: more homes available than eager buyers, at least for now.
To bridge the gap, sellers are making concessions. Nearly one in four Zillow listings saw a price cut in April the highest share for this time of year since at least 2018.
Regional trends
But like politics, all real estate is local, and the markets temperature varies sharply by geography. In parts of the South and West, inventory has returned to or even surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
Metros like Tampa, Jacksonville, New Orleans, and Miami are tilting in buyers favor, thanks in part to new construction and higher insurance costs tempering demand. These areas are now seeing longer timelines to sale, with homes in Miami sitting on the market for a median of 54 days.
By contrast, markets like Buffalo, Hartford, and Boston remain hot for sellers, maintaining strong negotiating leverage and quicker sales. Nationally, homes are going under contract in a median of 16 days slower than the last two years, but still brisk by historic standards.
Competition, too, has cooled. Zillows market heat index shows that while sellers retain a slight upper hand, the feverish bidding wars of 2021 and 2022 have given way to a more balanced playing field reminiscent of 2018 and 2019.
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