The number of buyer’s markets among the most populous metro areas has risen, according to a new report from the real estate brokerage Redfin.
According to the report, 38 of the most populous U.S. metropolitan areas were buyer’s markets in March, up from 29 a year earlier. The report noted that just five were seller’s markets, down from nine in 2025.
Redfin said it analyzed the 50 most populous metros and included in this analysis the 49 with sufficient data. It said it defines a market where there are over 10% more sellers than buyers as a buyer’s market and a market where there are over 10% fewer sellers than buyers as a seller’s market.
A market where the gap is plus or minus 10% is considered a balanced market, Redfin said.
Nationally, Redfin noted that there were an estimated 43.1% (or 600,168) more home sellers than buyers in March. That is just under the largest gap in records dating back to 2013 and is up from 28% (or 432,532) a year earlier.
The largest gap on record is 45.2% in December 2025, Redfin said.
Negotiating Power
The brokerage noted that when sellers outnumber buyers, buyers typically hold the negotiating power because they have options.
“High property taxes, rising insurance costs and fears about job security are making homebuyers very selective,” said Barb Cooper, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Austin, Texas, where sellers outnumber buyers by 112%. “The buyers who are in the market want turnkey homes in every sense, and they can afford to wait without compromising because we have tons of inventory.”
Redfin noted that there were an estimated 1.39 million homebuyers in the market in March. That’s just shy of the 1.38 million record low hit in April 2020, the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s little changed from a month earlier but down 10% from a year earlier, Redin said.
There were an estimated 1.99 million sellers in the market, which is the lowest level in a year. That’s down 0.5% from a month earlier and up 0.7% from a year earlier, Redfin noted.
Home sellers have been pulling back in part because of lackluster demand from buyers. Some sellers, Redfin noted, are delisting after watching their homes sit on the market, while others are choosing not to list at all after seeing nearby homes sell for below the asking price.
Redfin reported last month that relistings are beginning to rise as sellers bet on a spring uptick in demand.
The strongest buyer’s market was Miami, which had an estimated 148% more sellers than buyers. Next was Nashville (119%), Austin (112%), San Antonio (109%) and Las Vegas (101%).
Met Surging Demand
The Sun Belt rose sharply in popularity during the pandemic, Redin said, when manyhomebuyers moved in from more expensive parts of the country. To meet surging demand, homebuilders ramped up activity. That’s one reason there are now a lot more homes for sale than people who want to buy them, Redfin said.
The buyer pool, meanwhile, also has shrunk because soaring housing costs in recent years have priced many people out of the market.
Redfin noted that new construction can have a major influence on whether negotiating power lies with buyers or sellers because it impacts the balance of supply and demand. The South and the West have historically issued the most building permits, Redin said, while the Northeast and the Midwest (where the five seller’s markets are located) have issued the fewest.
The strongest seller’s market in March was Newark, New Jersey, which had an estimated 30.4% fewer sellers than buyers. The other four seller’s markets were Nassau County, New York (-28%) Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (-26.2%), Milwaukee (-19.7%) and New Brunswick, New Jersey (-12.5%).
Redfin said that on aveage, home prices rose 4.8% year over year across the five seller’s markets in March, compared with a 1.6% increase across the 38 buyer’s markets, which is an indication that buyer’s markets offer house hunters more leverage.
