It may not feel quite like a buyer's market, but today there’s another sign that home sellers have less leverage than they once did. Forty-four percent of sellers are giving concessions to buyers, according to a new report from Redfin — that’s up from 39% a year ago.
Even in a hot housing market like Denver, sellers are having to get their hands dirty. Realtor Amanda Snitker negotiated with one recently who at first refused to pay for repairs.
“They were pretty expensive. It needed a new roof. It needed a new boiler,” said Snitker.
Repairs totaled around $100,000. But the buyers refused to continue without them — which had already happened with this seller twice before.
“The seller ended up taking care of all of those costs prior to my clients purchasing,” she said.
Something unheard of, say, during the pandemic selling spree. Part of that is because buyers are jittery right now with all the uncertainty in the economy and fluctuating interest rates, said Daryl Fairweather with Redfin.
“So if interest rates suddenly go up before a buyer has a chance to lock in a rate, a seller might try to help to make sure the deal goes through,” said Fairweather.
George Kypreos, president of Las Vegas Realtors, said concessions are happening as much now as ever.
At his firm, said Kypreos, “Most of the buyers are asking for something and they're getting it.”
Which means for the Las Vegas market, neither the sellers nor the buyers have all the power.
“It's balancing out, which is great,” said Stephanie Grant, vice president of Las Vegas Realtors. And buyers are getting some relief while interest rates are high.
“Sometimes they may want to credit towards repairs,” said Grant. “Sometimes they may want credit towards buying down their interest rate.”
Realtor Tyler King helped a family get into a home in Portland, Oregon at the top of their price range.
They offered below asking price, said King, and, “We asked for even a small credit of, I think, $5,600 or something, for some repair stuff that we wanted. And the seller agreed to it.”
He said there’s a lot more negotiating happening, with fewer sellers lining up multiple offers.
“I think buyers are getting a little braver and willing to ask,” said King.
He said while the Portland market still favors sellers, it’s less of a seller’s market than before.
