4 recent signs that US housing is becoming a buyer's market

Things are looking up for prospective homebuyers.

This spring homebuying season, the housing market is flashing signs that haven't been seen since before the pandemic housing boom, according to Redfin.

Sellers outnumber buyers, inventory is sitting on the market for longer, and sellers are throwing in sweeteners to help close deals. These dynamics have increasingly combined to create what Redfin sees as a buyer's market.

For one, the share of US homes selling above asking price has hit a recent springtime low of 28%. During this time last year, that number was at 32%, and during the post-pandemic housing peak in 2022, it was 53%. The number tends to rise during the springtime because the March to June period is the most popular time to buy a house.

The percentage of homes selling above asking price is an important indicator in the housing market because it measures buyer demand. In a hot market, buyers compete and bid above list price, but it appears that sellers are now losing pricing power and can't demand as high of a premium for their houses anymore.

This phenomenon is prevalent almost nationwide, with the share of homes selling above asking price falling year-over-year everywhere except in the five most populous metro areas, according to Redfin.

Home sales are slowing, and the properties that do sell are spending more time on the market. This brings us to pending home sales, which have fallen 1.1% in the last year to 87,720 for the four weeks ending June 8, 2025.

Third, the number of pending sales under contract within two weeks has dropped to 37.6%, down from above 40% this time last year. Both of these numbers are at the lowest for the spring homebuying season since 2020.

There are roughly 500,000 more sellers than buyers in the housing market. The mortgage rate lock-in effect is slowly lifting as existing homeowners move for job changes and return to office mandates.

Sellers who bought their homes for high prices during the pandemic boom are hoping to recoup their initial purchase, but they're quickly realizing buyers aren't willing to pay 2022 prices anymore. Housing affordability remains a challenge as economic turmoil and recession fears put buyers on edge.

As a result, there's a disparity between the median list price and median sale price, which is the fourth signal highlighted by Redfin. Sellers are asking for a median of $425,950, but buyers are paying a median of $397,000, which is a 7% discount. In 2021 and 2022, the opposite was true — the median sale price was usually higher than the list price.

As a result of a cooling market, sellers are forced to lower prices or offer incentives to woo buyers.

For buyers, the sellers' loss is their gain: Redfin predicts home prices could fall 1% by the end of the year.

Read more at AOL

Related Links

• This Flower Farmer’s Trick Is the Secret to Endless Blooms in Your Garden

• The Five-Year Rule for Home Price Perspective

• Buying Your First Home? FHA Loans Can Help

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Too Hot to Wait? How to Get Your AC Working Faster, According to HVAC Pros

When it's hot outside, you want to cool down the inside—fast. Unfortunately, your AC unit may take longer than you'd like to reduce the inside temperature.

We consulted HVAC pros to help you learn how to get an AC cooling quicker.

Turn on Fans

Start by turning on all the fans in your house.

"Turning on a fan of any type, such as a ceiling fan, reciprocating fan, or box fan, will help," says Rob R. Terry, owner of Terry's A/C & Heating.

Even turn on your bathroom's exhaust fan and your kitchen hood fan, especially if someone has recently taken a shower or is cooking.

Terry says that this strategy doesn't make the AC unit cool faster. But you will feel cooler as a result of evaporative cooling or wind chill.

Keep the House Cooler

When your AC unit turns on, it's fighting against all the hot air in your house. All of the home's physical elements are hot, too: ceiling, flooring, furniture, and more.

Terry explains how you can pitch in and help with the AC unit with its fight.

"Air conditioners can only cool as fast as they can cool. If they have a wide temperature differential to address because your house is warm inside, it’s naturally going to take longer for the AC to cool down," he says.

Maintain a steady temperature with only a variation of a few degrees. This makes it easier for the AC unit to get to its ideal temperature, Terry says.

Keep Blinds Shut

You will feel a little cooler by closing blinds and curtains of especially sunny windows, Terry says. More importantly, this will prevent your room from heating up. Less heat gain makes it easier for an AC unit to catch up on its cooling struggle.

On the sunny side of the house, install sun-blocking blackout shades. These block out 80 percent or more of the sunlight entering the house.

Supercool at Night

Supercool your home at night by turning the thermostat lower, Terry says. This reduces the load on the AC the next day when it's trying to cool down the house.

Maintain an indoor temperature of between 75 and 78°F during the day. At night, supercool your house by turning the thermostat to 60 to 67°F.

Not only do you lessen the unit's workload, but studies also indicate that people sleep better in cooler bedrooms.1

Keep AC Running All the Time

Terry recommends keeping your AC running continuously, even when you're not at home. This doesn't necessarily mean keeping the house ice-cold all the time. Instead, it means having the unit activated 24 hours a day.

Clean the Outside Condenser Coils

If you want to get your AC cooling quicker, a straightforward way is to verify that the outside condenser coils are clean, says Jeff Ring, owner of Modern Heating & Cooling.

The condenser is the square metal unit outside the house—the box with vents on the side and a fan on top. When the coils inside the box aren't clean, the AC takes longer to cool the house.

To clean the air conditioner condenser coils, you will need a few basic tools, a special tool called a fin comb, and two cans of foaming A/C condenser coil cleaner.

Once you remove the outer cover, vacuum off the large debris and apply the coil cleaner. The cleaner is a solvent that takes several minutes to break down the corrosion. Finish by hosing off the cleaner.

Clean the Inside Filter

Trying to cool down a house fast with a clogged AC filter is like trying to get water out of a cinched hose. It does flow, but at a slower rate.

"Verify the indoor AC filter is clean and there is minimal interference of airflow," Ring says.

Fill Air Supply Duct Void

"One lesser-known way to help your central AC cool your home faster has to do with how your air supply ductwork is configured," says Randal Fuller, the owner of Fuller Services.

Behind the AC's air supply duct access panel is a large void. While some space is required, older systems often have extra-large voids.

"When the system starts, cold air fills that void before moving through the ductwork," Fuller says. "This creates a delay. So, it takes longer for cooler air to reach living spaces."

Fill some of that void to eliminate the time delay, allowing cool air to reach the room vents more quickly.

"It's a small adjustment, but it can noticeably improve how fast your home cools down," Fuller says.

Read more at the spruce

Related Links

• This Flower Farmer’s Trick Is the Secret to Endless Blooms in Your Garden

• The Five-Year Rule for Home Price Perspective

• Buying Your First Home? FHA Loans Can Help

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Buying Your First Home? FHA Loans Can Help

If you’re a first-time homebuyer, you might feel like the odds are stacked against you in today’s market. But there are resources and programs out there that can help – if you know where to look. And one thing that can make homeownership easier to achieve? An FHA home loan.

They’re designed to help you overcome some of the biggest financial hurdles in the homebuying process – and that’s why so many first-timers are using them to make their purchase.

Whether you’re dreaming of ditching rent, planting roots, or just wanting a place that’s truly yours, an FHA home loan could be the path that gets you there sooner than you think.

Buying Your First Home Probably Doesn’t Feel Easy Right Now

While the motivation to buy a home is still there for many people, affordability is a real challenge today. According to a survey from 1000WATT, potential first-time buyers say their top two concerns are saving enough for their down payment and making the monthly mortgage payments work at today’s home prices and mortgage rates.

That’s Where FHA Loans Come In

FHA loans help many first-time buyers overcome these challenges.

In fact, according to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the average first-time buyer using an FHA loan puts down just $16,000. That’s a big difference from the $77,000 they’re putting down with the typical conventional mortgage.

Essentially, buyers who use an FHA loan may not have to come up with as much cash up front. But the perks don’t stop there. You may also be able to pay less monthly, too.

That’s because, a lot of the time, the mortgage rate on FHA loans can be lower. Bankrate says:

“FHA loan rates are competitive with, and often slightly lower than, rates for conventional loans.”

So, if you’re thinking about buying your first place, an FHA loan may be worth exploring.

Because of the potential for lower down payment requirements and maybe even a lower mortgage rate, it could help with the two most common hurdles first-time buyers face today – saving enough money upfront and affording the monthly payment.

A trusted lender can walk you through the details, compare your options, and help you figure out what loan type makes the most sense for your situation.

Bottom Line

With the right loan and the right guidance, homeownership may be more achievable than you think.

Do you want to talk more about your options? A trusted lender is there to help.

Read more at Keeping Current Matters

Related Links

• This Flower Farmer’s Trick Is the Secret to Endless Blooms in Your Garden

• The Five-Year Rule for Home Price Perspective

• The Rooms That Matter Most When You Sell

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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This Flower Farmer’s Trick Is the Secret to Endless Blooms in Your Garden

If you've been planting annuals in your flower beds for a while you may have noticed how short-lived some of the blooms can be.

While some flowers seem to bloom and bloom with no effort, others require a little bit of work to keep blooming.

Still others, such as petunias, sunflowers, and cosmos tend to grow, bloom, die, and then leave a great big hole in your heart (and in your garden).

If you've always wanted to get those plants to last a little longer, then you're in luck! There's an easy way to ensure your snapdragons, phlox, and more are blooming all summer long.

It's called Succession Planting. To learn a little more about it and how to do it, we spoke with Lori Hernandez, founder/owner of the Three Acre Farm outside Grand Rapids, MI, and author of the Three Acre Guide to Succession Planting.

What Is Succession Planting?

Simply put, "Succession planting is a method of gardening that involves planting smaller amounts of the same flowers every 2 to 3 weeks instead of all at once," says Lori. "This way, as one batch of flowers finishes blooming, the next batch is just starting to flower, giving you a continuous supply of fresh blooms."

Though it takes a little bit more planning (and planting) the obvious benefit is that you get a continuous succession of blooms every few weeks, as long as the growing season lasts.

Tips for Succession Planting

"The hardest part of succession planting is planning ahead," says Lori. "Instead of planting the entire garden all at once, you will need to reserve areas in the garden for future successions. [I do this by] creating a garden map (either with pencil or paper, or using a garden software program)."

Lori uses succession planting extensively at Three Acre Farm.

To make things easier, she divides each flower's planting space into two or three distinct sections. "Areas reserved for future succession plantings can be covered with a tarp, landscape fabric or heavy mulch to prevent weed growth," she says. "When you are ready to plant, simply remove the tarp and plant the next succession!"

Planting to Harvest Vs. Planting to Show

One big difference between a flower farm and a front garden, of course, is that home gardeners may not want to grow all their dahlias or zinnias in one section—or in harvesting all the flowers at once (even when specifically growing a cut-flower garden). But succession planting can still be a good strategy for home gardeners.

"If I were growing annual flowers in my front yard for display, I would plan on planting two successions," says Lori. "The first succession would be in the front and the second succession would go behind it, planted 2 to 3 weeks later.

"When the first succession begins to fade and look tired, you can trim it back and allow the second succession to take over," she says. Because some annuals tend to rebloom after a trimming, the front of the garden would likely create a third succession!

Advanced Succession Planting Ideas

Ready to take succession planting to the next level? You can try planting two different kinds of flowers in the same space. Lori recommends swapping a cold-hardy annual, grown in the fall / late winter or in the early spring (depending on climate) with a heat-loving annual, grown in the summer and early fall. The cold-hardy plants will bloom in the late spring or early summer, and once they're finished, you can start growing your heat-loving annuals for a late summer/early fall bloom!

Here's what Lori recommends:

• Cold-Hardy Annual examples: Bachelor Button, Bells of Ireland, Iceland Poppy, Larkspur, Nigella, Orlaya, Stock, Sweet Pea, etc.

• Heat-Loving Annual examples: Ageratum, Amaranth, Celosia, Cosmos, Globe Amaranth, Marigold, Strawflower, Sunflower, Zinnia.

Read more at Country Living

Related Links

• Why Buying Real Estate Is Still the Best Long-Term Investment

• The Five-Year Rule for Home Price Perspective

• The Rooms That Matter Most When You Sell

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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The Five-Year Rule for Home Price Perspective

Headlines are saying home prices are starting to dip in some markets. And if you’re beginning to second guess your plans based on what you’re hearing in the media, here’s what you need to know.

It’s true that a few metros are seeing slight price drops. But don’t let that overshadow this simple truth. Home values almost always go up over time.

While everyone remembers what happened around the housing crash of 2008, that was the exception – not the rule. It hadn’t happened before, and hasn’t since. There were many market dynamics that were drastically different back then, too. From relaxed lending standards to a lack of homeowner equity, and even a large oversupply of homes, it was very different from where the national housing market is today. So, every headline about prices slowing down, normalizing, or even dipping doesn’t need to trigger fear that another big crash is coming.

Here’s something that explains why short-term dips usually aren’t a long-term deal-breaker.

What’s the Five-Year Rule?

In real estate, you might hear talk about the five-year rule. The idea is that if you plan to own your home for at least five years, short-term dips in prices usually don’t hurt you much. That’s because home values almost always go up in the long run. Even if prices drop a bit for a year or two, they tend to bounce back (and then some) over time.

Take it from Lance Lambert, Co-Founder of ResiClub:

“. . . there’s the ‘five-year rule of thumb’ in real estate—which suggests that most buyers can buffer themselves from mild short-term declines if they plan to own a property for at least that amount of time.”

What’s Happening in Today’s Market?

Here’s something else to put your mind at ease. Right now, most housing markets are still seeing home prices rise – just not as fast as they were a few years ago.

But in the major metros where prices are starting to cool off a little (the red bars in the graph below), the average drop is only about -2.9% since April 2024. That’s not a major decline like we saw back in 2008.

And when you look at the graph below, it’s clear that prices in most of those markets are up significantly compared to where they were five years ago (the blue bars). So, those homeowners are still ahead if they’ve been in their house for a few years or more (see graph below):

The Big Picture

Over the past 5 years, home prices have risen a staggering 55%, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). So, a small short-term dip isn’t a significant loss. Even if your city is one where they’re down 2% or so, you’re still up far more than that.

And if you break those 5-year gains down even further, using data from the FHFA, you’ll see home values are up in every single state over the last five years.

That’s why it’s important not to stress too much about what’s happening this month, or even this year. If you’re in it for the long haul (and most homeowners are) your home is likely to grow in value over time.

Bottom Line

Yes, prices can shift in the short term. But history shows that home values almost always go up over five years. So, whether you’re thinking of buying or selling, remember the five-year rule, and take comfort in the long view.

Read more at Keeping Current Matters

Related Links

• Why Buying Real Estate Is Still the Best Long-Term Investment

• Mortgage rates fall on ADP report. Will jobs Friday push rates even lower?

• The Rooms That Matter Most When You Sell

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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