Fall Homebuyers Scoring Discounts in Sluggish Market

Seattle, WA, October 22, 2025-Three metrics that measure competition in the U.S. housing market each dropped to the lowest September level in six years last month, reports Redfin. 

Share of homes selling above list price: 25.3% of homes that sold went for more than their final list price, down from 28.5% a year earlier.

Average sale-to-list-price ratio: This metric came in at 98.6%, down from 99.1% a year earlier. That means the typical home sold for 1.4% less than its final list price, compared with 0.9% less last September.

Share of homes selling in two weeks: 32.8% of homes that went under contract did so within two weeks of being listed, down from 34.9% a year earlier.

A fourth metric-time on market-shows that the housing market is moving at the slowest pace for this time of year in nearly a decade. The typical home that went under contract in September sat on the market for 50 days-the slowest September pace since 2016.

The housing market is sluggish because high costs and economic uncertainty are limiting the number of people buying homes. Inventory has also ticked up, meaning the buyers who are in the market have more options and many of them can afford to take their time. There are 36.7% more home sellers in the market than buyers-a near-record gap. The good news for buyers is this means they often have an opportunity to negotiate and ask for concessions.

“Homebuyers have extremely high expectations. Some of them remember being preapproved for a 3% mortgage rate during the pandemic, which meant they could afford a $450,000 house. Now that rates, insurance costs and property taxes have gone up, they can only afford a $325,000 house, but still have $450,000 expectations,” said Roze Swartz, a Redfin real estate agent in Houston. “Sellers can’t be picky on price-if they don’t have the lowest price on the market, they’re not even going to get showings. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s better to price low from the start than price high and make a drastic cut after your home has been sitting on the market for months without any offers.”