According to the latest estimates from the online real estate brokerage company Redfin, in December in the United States, there were 47% more home sellers than buyers, approximately 631,000 more homes, marking the largest gap since 2013.
Redfin reported that in December last year, the number of home sellers in Austin, Texas was about 128% higher than the number of buyers, the largest difference among the top 50 metropolitan areas. Fort Lauderdale (125%), Nashville (111%), Miami (103%), and San Antonio (103%) also experienced serious oversupply situations.
The number of active homebuyers has sharply declined, with the active homebuyer count dropping to 1.34 million in December, the lowest level recorded by Redfin in the past 12 years.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in April 2020, homebuyers have never been so scarce.
In 2021, there were far more buyers than sellers, bidding wars were common, and buyers once fought fiercely for houses. In February 2024, the numbers on both sides were roughly equal, but since then, the number of sellers has consistently exceeded that of buyers.
The real estate market in 2025 was sluggish, with the sales of existing homes hovering near the lowest level in 30 years.
Redfin pointed out that “due to high home prices and mortgage rates, layoffs, and increasing economic and political uncertainties, buyers’ willingness to purchase homes is declining.”
Additionally, during the pandemic, prosperous sunbelt towns have seen a surge in new home construction, increasing supply and slowing down price increases. Meanwhile, after years of soaring home prices, demand has cooled.
The key issue is that many buyers who purchased homes during the peak of the market during the pandemic have failed to adjust their expectations, not anticipating that there would be more supply than demand for homes.
Connie Durnal, a Redfin Premier agent in the Dallas area, stated that some clients are adapting to the new reality, while others are not. “Many sellers are unwilling to accept reality and therefore unwilling to make concessions in pricing,” she said.
She added, “If your house is priced unreasonably, it will linger on the market.”
The situation in the Northeast and Midwest regions is different, with fewer building permits historically issued in these areas. Sellers still dominate, and prices in multiple markets are rising faster than the national average.
Buyers far outnumber sellers in Nassau County, New York, followed by Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and Newark, New Jersey. The number of buyers also exceeded sellers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and New Brunswick, New Jersey, last month.
According to Redfin, in December, 36 of the most populous 50 metropolitan areas were considered buyer’s markets, meaning that in these areas, sellers outnumber buyers by at least 10%. In contrast, only a few metropolitan areas were identified as seller’s markets.
Long-term mortgage rates have recently fallen to the lowest levels in over three years, but the average 30-year fixed-rate is still around 6.06%, approximately twice the rate in 2021.
President Donald Trump is working to lower borrowing costs, but industry experts do not expect a significant further decline in mortgage rates in 2026.
For potential homebuyers, the good news is that the proportion of homeowners holding mortgages with rates below 3% is declining, which may help improve housing supply in the coming months and years.
Redfin has labeled 2026 as a “Housing Market Great Reset” in its recent forecasts, marking the beginning of a “long and slow recovery.”