For anyone who tried to buy a home during the pandemic frenzy, of waived inspections, offers over asking within hours, and sellers holding every card, the current market will feel unfamiliar. The balance has shifted back toward buyers, and the data is clear about it. Redfin has reported the US housing market holding far more sellers than active buyers, one of the widest such gaps in its records. For a would-be buyer, that changes what is possible at the negotiating table.

What changed, and why

The pandemic housing boom was built on scarcity: rock-bottom mortgage rates and too few homes for sale set off bidding wars. That has unwound. Mortgage rates have climbed to around 6.5%, roughly double their pandemic lows, which has cooled demand and priced some buyers out. At the same time, more homes have come onto the market. With demand softer and supply higher, sellers no longer set the terms.

The signs of that turn are concrete. Redfin found a record share of sellers, more than a third, cutting their asking price in February, the highest for that month in over a decade. Seller concessions, where a seller agrees to sweeten a deal beyond the price, showed up in nearly half of sales in the spring, the highest share in years. Homes are also sitting on the market longer, which removes the pressure to bid instantly and blindly.

Terms worth knowing

Two pieces of jargon matter here. A concession is anything a seller gives to help close the deal without simply cutting the sticker price: covering some of your closing costs, paying for repairs, or funding a rate buydown, an upfront payment that temporarily lowers your mortgage rate in the first years of the loan. A contingency is a condition you attach to an offer, such as the sale depending on a satisfactory inspection or the home appraising at the agreed price; if the condition is not met, you can walk away without losing your deposit. In hot markets, desperate buyers waived these protections. In a cooler one, you can insist on them.

How to use the leverage

None of this is a signal to buy, and none of it is investment advice; a home is a place to live, not a trade. But if you are already planning to buy, a buyer's market is the moment to negotiate deliberately:

  • Don't treat the asking price as fixed. Where inventory is high and price cuts common, the list price is often a starting point. Make a considered offer below it and let the comparable sales support your number.
  • Ask for concessions. If the price is fair but your budget is tight, request closing-cost help or a rate buydown rather than only haggling on price. With buyers scarcer, more sellers will say yes.
  • Keep your contingencies. Condition the offer on a full inspection and on the appraisal supporting the price. These protections exist to stop you overpaying or inheriting hidden problems.
  • Get pre-approved first. Leverage means little if the seller doubts your financing. A lender's pre-approval makes your offer credible and your position stronger.
  • Take your time. Homes are not vanishing in hours. You can compare, sleep on it, and negotiate rather than rushing into the biggest purchase of your life.

Keep it in proportion

One caveat matters. A market tilting toward buyers is not a crash. Prices in much of the country are broadly stable, not collapsing, and sellers are still, on the whole, in a reasonable position; this is a rebalancing, not a fire sale. The practical takeaway is simply that the terms are more negotiable than they have been in years, and that buyers who know the levers, price, concessions, contingencies, financing, can use them. Boursel does not give financial advice; the aim here is to explain how the ground has shifted so you can act on it with clear eyes.