The 9 Cities Where Homebuyers Are About To Take Control

Despite high mortgage rates and broader economic uncertainty, this spring delivered the most buyer- friendly conditions in nearly seven years as the roster of genuine buyer's markets expanded to 19 metros.

Now nine more metro areas are poised to join the ranks of buyer's markets by the end of the summer.

The list of imminent buyer's markets includes Atlanta; Bakersfield, CA; Birmingham, AL; Honolulu; Houston; Memphis, TN; Riverside, CA; San Antonio; and Syracuse, NY.

The findings come from the Realtor.com® 2026 Q2 Market Clock report released on Tuesday, which tracks national and metro-level housing conditions based on key metrics like months of supply, time on the market, price fluctuations, and list-to-sale ratio.

This latest spring edition covers 100 of the nation's largest metros, double the reach of the inaugural first-quarter report, offering buyers and sellers an easy-to-read snapshot of how their hometown compares to regional and national trends.

Here's a brief reminder of how the Market Clock diagnostic tool works: Each of the 100 largest markets is placed on a 12-hour clockface from a peak seller's market at 12 o’clock to a peak buyer’s market at 6 o’clock to indicate where each market currently stands and where it is likely headed—loosening or tightening.  

Heading into summer, the national market clock sits at 3 o'clock, signifying a balanced market with a level playing field for buyers and sellers alike.

Buyers grab the reins

However, as Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel points out, the national metric does not tell the full story and masks sharp local divergences in housing conditions.

"One hundred local markets occupy nine of the 12 positions on the clockface, some still favoring sellers but a growing number favoring buyers," says Krimmel.

In welcome news for real estate shoppers, 70% of housing markets tracked by the Market Clock now favor buyers or are moving in that direction, up from roughly half last year.

Over the past 12 months, nearly every market that moved around the clock has shifted closer to a buyer’s market, even if it still technically sits in balanced or seller’s territory.

As spring came to a close, there were 19 metros that were firmly in the buyer's market column. All of them except one—Colorado Springs, CO—are clustered in the well-supplied South.

According to Krimmel, in practical terms it means that in metros like Augusta, GA (early buyer's market), or Cape Coral, FL (late buyer's market), shoppers hold more leverage, while sellers tend to price more competitively than in the past to get to the closing table faster.

This growing willingness among sellers to meet buyers where they are on price has paid off, as evidenced by pending home sales rising annually for seven consecutive months, capping the most active spring market since 2022.

Markets on the brink of change

For households eyeing a move this summer or fall, the metros to watch especially closely are late-balanced markets that are poised to tip into outright buyer's territory.

Positioned at 4 o'clock on the Market Clock, the nine geographically diverse metros—Atlanta, Bakersfield, Birmingham, Honolulu, Houston, Memphis, Riverside, San Antonio, and Syracuse—are expected to loosen by the summer's end.

According to Krimmel, the primary engine propelling these metros into the buyer's camp is a growing stock of for-sale homes, with months of supply on the rise. This metric indicates how many months it would take for all the listed homes on the market to be sold at the current sales pace. 

"What that means is that the pace of inventory growth, through new listings and homes sitting on market longer, is faster than the pace of home sales in these metros," explains Krimmel.

The handful of late-balanced metros share other common indicators, including increasing time on the market, a higher share of listings with price cuts, and falling asking prices compared to a year ago.

"These are all signs of sellers gradually losing leverage—and negotiating power shifting more toward buyers," adds Krimmel.

While 5 of the 9 transitioning metros are located in the South, Krimmel notes that the representation of other regions in this category "hammers home the point that buyer-friendly momentum has been broad-based this spring."

What this means for buyers and sellers

Buyers in these select few metros are gaining negotiating power and leverage, offering them more breathing room to make a decision and potentially extract concessions from sellers.

"The biggest factor contributing to San Antonio becoming a buyer's market is that housing inventory is at its highest level since before the [COVID-19] pandemic," Travis Amaro, a real estate associate at Kuper Sotheby's International Realty in San Antonio, tells Realtor.com. "With more homes on the market, buyers have more choices and increased negotiating power."

Sellers, on the other hand, are advised to price realistically from the outset in line with current market conditions, not last year's.

"Those who try to test the market by pricing high will likely end up slashing prices later," warns Krimmel. "And failing to sell now likely means facing even less seller-friendly conditions in the coming months."

According to Amaro, sellers who have a pressing need to offload their property are generally the most motivated and willing to negotiate, creating opportunities for buyers.

Still, he cautions buyers against being over-confident and assuming that every property will accept a lowball offer. That is especially true for well-maintained turnkey homes in desirable neighborhoods.

"Every home is different, and every seller has unique motivations," notes the agent. "Some sellers are highly motivated and willing to negotiate, while others are in no rush to sell and are prepared to wait for the right buyer and the right price. Success in today's market comes from understanding the individual property, the seller's position, and crafting an offer that reflects both."

Sellers' last strongholds

On the other side of the spectrum sit 25 metros that are seller’s markets, led by Hartford, CT, which in the second quarter won the distinction of being the sole peak seller’s market, where homes are being snapped up and bidding wars are the norm.

Nearly half of the nation's seller's markets are concentrated in high-demand, inventory-constrained Midwest, six in the Northeast, five in the West—including America's most expensive housing market San Jose, CA—and just two in the South, Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA.

Looking at the five balanced markets that have become more-seller friendly compared to the first quarter, all were in the supply-starved, highly sought-after Northeast, among them New York City and Bridgeport, CT.