The worst time to sell a home is right now, dire figures show

It’s crickets out there for home sellers. The pool of active US homebuyers has dwindled so drastically due to affordability concerns pushing would-be house hunters onto the sidelines.The number of buyers in the market sunk to about 967,000 in July — the lowest level recorded since Redfin began tracking the metric in 2013.That marks around 34% fewer homebuyers than sellers, giving buyers a leg up as inventory swells, according to a new Redfin report. That’s because “mortgage rates were falling in July 2025, which helped bring more buyers into the market later in last year’s homebuying season,” Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, told The Post.Compared to last July 2025, however, the buyer pool is down 5.5% year-over-year from 1.02 million buyers.“Home prices remain high, and mortgage rates rose to their highest level in a year in July, making monthly payments difficult for many would-be buyers to stomach,” Fairweather said.

“Economic uncertainty is also causing some buyers to hold off.”From June to July, the estimated number of buyers fell 2.5%, while the number of sellers fell just 0.3%.“That left nearly half a million more sellers than buyers nationwide,” Fairweather said.

“With more homes competing for fewer buyers, the buyers who remain can be choosier and have more leverage to negotiate on things like price and concessions.”Home sellers dominated the market in July, outnumbering buyers by a staggering 51.3% — up from 47.9% in June, and coming dangerously close to the record peak of 51.8% set in December.More than three-quarters of US metros — 39 of the 49 markets analyzed — were ranked as buyer’s markets, per Redfin, led by areas that were hot for sellers during the pandemic — Miami, then Nashville, followed by a trio of Texas cities. Those Sun Belt markets are facing the same affordability challenges as other areas, but in Miami and Nashville, pandemic-era home building and investing is coming online now, Fa...