Is It Finally a Buyer’s Market? Here’s How To Tell and What To Do About It

It’s not always obvious when a housing market has tipped toward buyers, but a new report from Realtor.com® suggests that it's the most buyer-friendly market that it's been since at least 2018.Across the country, 70% of markets favor buyers or are trending in that direction, according to the latest Market Clock Report—up sharply from 52% at the same time last year and nearly double the pre-pandemic share of 37%.But calling this a buyer’s market comes with an important caveat: The shift is happening in degrees. Some markets are only beginning to tilt toward buyers, while others may already be moving past their most buyer-friendly point. And even within the same city, buyers can have tremendous leverage in one corner of the market and almost none in another.That makes knowing what a buyer’s market actually looks like—and which signals show that one is taking shape—especially important right now.What does a buyer's market mean?In the simplest terms, a buyer’s market is when the number of homes for sale exceeds the number of active buyers. This shift in supply and demand gives buyers more leverage as sellers compete to outshine one another. That means more choices, more room to negotiat...