There are now nearly 50% more home sellers than buyers as mismatch widens to a record 630,000. But it’s only a buyer’s market if you can afford it

Home buyers have gained even more leverage over sellers as housing market supply continues to overwhelm tepid demand.

In February, there were 46.3% more sellers than buyers, representing a gap of 629,808, the largest in Redfin’s records going back to 2013, the real estate company said in a report on Monday.

The latest number is up 30% from a year earlier, when the mismatch was 449,409. And recently as October, it was 528,769 people.

According to Redfin, a buyer’s market is when there are over 10% more sellers than buyers. And by this definition, buyers have held the advantage since May 2024.

That came after the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive rate-hiking cycle in four decades, sending mortgage rates higher as central bankers scrambled to bring down inflation.

The result was a sharp unwinding of the seller’s market that saw home prices and sales boom in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

But even though the Fed began reducing rates two years ago, the housing market has largely been frozen as the “lock-in effect” prevented homeowners with low mortgage rates from putting their properties up for sale. The tight supply also lifted home prices, adding to the spiraling housing affordability crisis.

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