Seven of the 50 Largest U.S. Metros Now Buyer’s Markets

AUSTIN, TX—The U.S. housing market reached a rare state of balance this summer, according to Realtor.com's August monthly housing report released on Sept. 9, which showed months of supply at 5.0, a level not seen in the summer months since Realtor.com began tracking the metric in 2016.

This shift signals the continuation of a slow rebalancing in favor of homebuyers, though local conditions vary significantly across regions and metros, the report stated.

“The national housing market is now more balanced between homebuyers and sellers at five months of supply, but that balance conceals a wide range of local realities,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “In Miami, Austin, and Orlando, buyers are clearly in control, while in metros like Milwaukee and Boston, sellers remain firmly in the driver's seat. The takeaway for buyers and sellers alike is that local conditions, not national headlines, are what matter most for pricing, competition, and timing.”

Formally, months of supply is defined as a month's total inventory — both active and pending listings — divided by sales in that month. In theory, it represents how long it would take to sell all currently listed homes at the current sales pace. In practice, the metric is a long-standing rule of thumb: fewer than 4.0 months indicates a seller's market, 4–6 months is balanced, and 6+ months favors buyers.

Metros Split Along Buyer-Seller Spectrum

At the metro level, seven of the 50 largest U.S. markets were in buyer's market territory in June with six months or more of supply: Miami, Austin, Orlando, New York, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Riverside, CA. Every major metro in this category also saw prices fall in August on a per-square-foot basis.

Buyers' Markets—Highest months of supply metros (June): Miami (9.7), Austin (7.1), Orlando (6.9), New York (6.7), Jacksonville (6.3), Tampa (6.3), and Riverside, CA (6.1).

Balanced metros near the national average—Los Angeles (5.0), Denver (4.9), Portland, Ore. (5.1).

Sellers' Markets—Lowest months of supply metros: Milwaukee (2.7), St. Louis (2.9), Grand Rapids, MI (2.9), Boston (3.0).

Markets with greater than six months' supply experienced price declines in August, while those with fewer than four months of supply recorded stronger price growth. The divergence is highly regional: Southern markets—particularly in Florida and Texas—dominate the buyer's market group, while most of the Northeast and Midwest remain in tight seller's market territory with steady or rising prices. Notably, buyer's market regions also align to areas where builders have been more active and new homes are more abundant.

Inventory Recovery Stalls After Two Years of Growth

For buyers, a growing number of homes for sale continues to shape the market. Active listings rose 20.9% year-over-year in August, marking the 22nd consecutive month of gains and the fourth straight month above 1 million listings.

But that expansion is slowing. Active listing growth has decelerated each month since May, when it reached 31.5% year-over-year. The gap to pre-pandemic inventory has also widened again, now sitting 14.3% below 2017–2019 norms—up from 12.9% in June. In other words, the nationwide inventory recovery is moving in the wrong direction.

By region, inventory rose in all four major U.S. regions, led by the West (+26.7%) and South (+21.8%), with slower growth in the Midwest (+15.6%) and Northeast (+14.2%).

Relative to pre-pandemic norms, only the South (+3.6%) and West (+6.6%) are running above 2017–2019 levels. The Midwest (-39.3%) and Northeast (-50.9%) continue to lag significantly.

Metros above pre-pandemic levels by 25%—11 of the top 50 all concentrated in the South and West. Denver (+64.2%), San Antonio (+53.4%), and Austin (+50.2%) lead the list.

Delistings Signal Growing Seller Frustration

Beyond slowing sales and flat prices, delistings have become a defining feature of this summer's housing market. Nationally, delistings rose 57% in July, which is the most recent month for which delisting data is available, compared to the same time last year, continuing a sharp upward trend that has now outpaced overall inventory gains. On a year-to-date basis, delistings are up 41%.

The ratio of delistings to new listings—a metric that captures the flow of homes in and out of the for-sale market—climbed to 0.24 in July. This means that for every 100 new listings that came onto the market, 24 previously listed homes were removed without selling. By comparison, the ratio was just 0.17 a year ago.

Metros with the highest delisting-to-listing ratios (July): Miami (57 per 100 new listings), Phoenix (45), Riverside, CA (34) and Tucson, AZ (33).

A rising delisting rate suggests that sellers are increasingly unwilling to accept current market prices or conditions, pulling their homes from the market instead. This pullback could put downward pressure on inventory later in the year, reducing buyer choice even as market momentum slows.

Softer Demand Meets Slower Sales

Signs of a cooling market are evident in demand-side indicators. Pending home sales dipped 1.3% year-over-year in August, while new listings grew just 4.9%—marking the fourth straight month of slowing momentum.

Homes are also taking longer to sell. The typical home spent 60 days on the market in August, seven days longer than last year and now above pre-pandemic norms for the second consecutive month. This was the 17th straight month of year-over-year increases in time on market.

Regionally, the slowdown is most pronounced in the South and West. Compared to last year, time on market rose by eight days in the West and the South, versus three in the Midwest and two in the Northeast. Twenty-seven of the top 50 metros are now seeing listings linger longer than their pre-pandemic averages, with the sharpest slowdowns in Nashville (+21 days) and Miami (+16 days).

Prices Hold Flat, But Cuts Rising

The national median list price remained unchanged from last year at $429,990, down 2.2% month-over-month. Year-on-year prices varied modestly by region, ticking up slightly in the Northeast (+1.1%), remaining steady in the Midwest (+0.0%) and South (-0.1%), and edging lower in the West (-2.1%)

Sellers are adjusting to weaker demand. In August, 20.3% of active listings had price cuts, with reductions concentrated in the South and West. Delistings also rose sharply—\up 57% year-over-year — as more sellers pulled homes off the market.