Homebuyers gain the upper hand as sellers swamp the market

Sellers in the U.S. housing market are outnumbering buyers by a large margin, giving potential buyers who were in the market negotiating power. But it’s not making a dent in the affordability crisis.

In December, there were an estimated 47.1% more home sellers than buyers in the U.S. housing market, which is the largest gap in records since 2013, according to a recent report from Realtor.com. That’s up 7.1% from a month earlier, which was also the largest increase since September 2022.

It’s also up 22.2% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, during that same month, the number of homebuyers fell 5.9% month over month to an estimated 1.34 million, making the largest drop since March 2023 and the lowest level in records dating back to 2013, according to the report. AFFIRM TO OFFER BUY NOW, PAY LATE