Seller Concessions Reach 44.7% as U.S. Buyers Gain More Negotiating Power

Executive Summary

Seller concessions appeared in 44.7% of U.S. home sales handled by Redfin buyer agents during the three months ending Aug. 31, 2026, up from 42.6% a year earlier and the highest August share in Redfin records dating to at least 2020.

The shift is most pronounced in parts of the Sun Belt, where sellers face heavier competition from other listings. Atlanta led Redfin's 29-metro analysis with concessions in 72.8% of transactions, followed by Charlotte at 67.9% and Phoenix at 67.4%.

The trend is unfolding as national housing inventory grows and borrowing costs remain elevated. The National Association of Realtors reported 1.62 million existing homes for sale in August, representing 4.9 months of supply—the highest months-of-supply reading in more than a decade. Freddie Mac's average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 6.95% as of Sept. 17.

For buyers who can afford to enter the market, that combination is creating more room to negotiate not only on price but also on closing costs, repairs and mortgage-rate buydowns.

Nearly half of Redfin transactions included a concession

Home sellers provided a concession in 44.7% of transactions in Redfin's August data, a 2.1-percentage-point increase from 42.6% one year earlier.

Redfin defines a concession as something provided by the seller that lowers the buyer's overall purchase cost, including contributions toward closing costs, repairs or mortgage-rate buydowns.

Importantly, Redfin's measure does not count reductions in a home's list price or negotiated reductions in the purchase price as concessions. Its August figure also represents a rolling three-month period ending Aug. 31 rather than transactions completed in August alone. The dataset is based on information submitted by Redfin buyer agents and therefore is not a census of every U.S. home sale.

The distinction matters because some buyers are receiving both forms of relief.

Nationwide, 15.8% of homes in Redfin's August sample had both a seller concession and a price reduction, up slightly from 15.6% a year earlier and the highest August share in Redfin's records.

That suggests sellers in some markets are increasingly negotiating on multiple parts of the transaction rather than simply lowering the asking price.

Sun Belt markets show the strongest negotiating leverage

Concessions vary sharply by geography.

Among the 29 metropolitan areas with sufficient data, Atlanta had the highest concession rate at 72.8%. Charlotte followed at 67.9%, Phoenix at 67.4%, Las Vegas at 66.7% and Raleigh at 66.3%.

Phoenix also recorded the largest year-over-year increase among the metros Redfin analyzed, rising 15.3 percentage points. Charlotte increased 9.3 points and Riverside, California, rose 9 points.

At the other end of the market, concessions appeared in just 4.2% of San Jose transactions and 5.7% of New York transactions. San Francisco was at 18.6%, Chicago at 21.9% and Philadelphia at 25.5%.

The geographic split largely tracks differences in housing supply and buyer demand.

Redfin separately estimated that the U.S. had 57.9% more home sellers than buyers in August, the widest national gap in its records dating to 2013. Nashville had 139% more sellers than buyers, Miami 138% more and Houston 131% more. Redfin classified 36 of the 49 metros in that analysis as buyer's markets.

Many of the markets with the largest seller surpluses are in the Sun Belt, where new-home construction remained relatively active even as pandemic-era migration and housing demand cooled.

Rising inventory is changing the negotiation

Broader housing data support the same shift in bargaining power.

The National Association of Realtors said existing-home inventory reached 1.62 million units in August, up 3.2% from July and 5.9% from a year earlier. That represented 4.9 months of supply, up from 4.6 months in both July and August 2025.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the 4.9-month supply was the highest in more than 10 years and that the additional inventory was giving buyers greater opportunity to negotiate.

At the same time, transaction volume remains subdued. Existing-home sales fell 2% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million in August and were down 1.2% from a year earlier. The median existing-home price still rose 1.6% year over year to $429,100.

Those figures show why the market's shift toward buyers does not necessarily translate into sharply lower home prices. In many transactions, sellers may instead preserve the contract price while offering assistance elsewhere in the deal.

High mortgage rates make concessions more valuable

Seller credits can be particularly meaningful when borrowing costs are high.

Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.95% for the week ending Sept. 17, up from 6.76% one week earlier and 6.26% a year ago.

A negotiated credit toward eligible closing costs can reduce the amount of cash a buyer needs at settlement. A seller-funded rate buydown may also lower borrowing costs, either temporarily or permanently depending on the structure of the transaction.

But concessions are not unrestricted cash.

For mortgages sold to Fannie Mae, interested-party contributions can generally be used for qualifying closing costs and prepaid expenses, but they cannot be used to satisfy a borrower's down payment, reserve requirements or minimum borrower contribution.

Fannie Mae's maximum financing concessions for a principal residence or second home are generally 3% when the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 90%, 6% at LTVs from 75.01% through 90%, and 9% at an LTV of 75% or less. Investment-property transactions are generally limited to 2%. Contributions above permitted limits can affect the sales price used for underwriting and loan-to-value calculations.

Other mortgage programs have their own rules, so the amount a seller is willing to provide may not always equal the amount a borrower can use.

Concessions do not mean every market is a buyer's market

The national numbers also mask substantial local differences.

Redfin found concession rates declining in nine of the 29 metros it analyzed. Seattle's rate fell to 48.5% from roughly 70% a year earlier, while San Jose fell to 4.2% from 10.2% and San Diego declined to 57.1% from 62.4%.

Redfin's separate supply-and-demand analysis classified only five major metros as seller's markets in August, including Nassau County, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee; and San Francisco.

That divergence underscores why concession data are most useful at the local level. A buyer seeking closing-cost assistance in Atlanta or Phoenix may face a very different negotiating environment from someone bidding on a well-priced property in San Jose or the New York area.

What it means for the fall housing market

The growing use of concessions is another sign that the housing market is adjusting to a prolonged affordability squeeze.

Home prices have not broadly collapsed, but higher inventory, relatively weak sales activity and mortgage rates near 7% have made it harder for sellers in many markets to dictate transaction terms.

For mortgage lenders and real estate professionals, the change puts more emphasis on structuring offers around the buyer's total cost rather than focusing exclusively on the headline purchase price. Closing-cost credits, repairs and permissible rate buydowns can materially alter the economics of a transaction even when the recorded sale price changes little.

The next question is whether that negotiating leverage persists as the market moves into the fall. If inventory remains elevated and mortgage rates continue to constrain demand, seller concessions could remain an important tool for getting purchase transactions to the closing table.