The climate of the U.S. housing market for buyers varies around the country, and a new report suggests there are currently only eight metro areas that are truly buyer’s markets.
The economist research team at Realtor.com released a diagnostic tool called the Market Clock that tracks the housing market at the national and metro level based on months of supply, time on market, price changes and list-to-sale ratio to reflect local conditions.
It tracks the 50 largest metros in the U.S. and found in its first quarterly report that about half, or 46%, of the top markets are in balance with neither buyers nor sellers having an edge; while 26% are seller’s markets and only 16% are buyer’s markets.
The eight buyer’s markets are mostly located in the South, though there is one outlier in the West. None of the buyer’s markets were located in the Northeast or Midwest, where strong demand and restricted supply have either kept the housing market in balance or given sellers the edge.
PROPERTY TAX BURDEN ON AMERICANS CLIMBS AS HOME VALUES DIP, NEW DATA SHOWS
For all the eight buyer’s markets, the Market Clock is at 5 o’clock, which signals they have ample supply of homes for sale with a growing number of listings and sellers lowering prices.
Half of the buyer’s markets are located in Florida – Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. The others are Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Riverside, California.
HOUSING MARKET GAINING MOMENTUM AS SPRING SEASON BEGINS
Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel said that while active listings may not have risen year over year in each of the eight buyer’s markets,
“Riverside and Nashville, for instance, have seen active listings increase 222% and 330%, respectively, since high interest rates reset the market in 2022 – significantly greater than the national average of 172% since March 2022,” he said.
THESE 10 HOUSING MARKETS GIVE FIRST-TIME BUYERS THE BEST SHOT AT HOMEOWNERSHIP IN 2026
The report noted that compared with June 2025, Atlanta, Austin, Nashville and Riverside all saw their position on the market clock loosen by one “hour” into an early buyer’s market from a late balanced market. Jacksonville followed a similar pattern, moving from being in balance to a buyer’s market.
By contrast, Miami, Orlando and Tampa were already early buyer’s markets in June and held steady at that level through the end of last year.
Krimmel said that prospective buyers in all the eight metros have both time and options on their side this spring, giving them the opportunity to exert leverage up to a point when negotiating prices and concessions with sellers.
Read the full article here
