Online brokerage firm Redfin ranks Austin No. 1 buyer’s market with 130% more sellers than buyers.
File photo/Austin American Statesman
Real estate markets in major metro areas across the U.S. are increasingly becoming buyers markets — and Austin is leading the charge.
A new report from online brokerage firm Redfin shows Austin had the strongest buyers market in the nation in September. Three other Texas metros were among the top 10. That included San Antonio, which ranked No. 6. Dallas-Fort Worth was No. 7 and Houston No. 10.
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With Redfin’s figures showing more than twice as many sellers as buyers, Austin had the widest gap in the nation.
The report mirrors what Central and South Texas agents have been seeing on the ground: more choice for buyers, longer timelines to shop and haggle and fewer bidding wars.
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Redfin estimated Austin had 130% more sellers than buyers last month, underscoring a decisive shift toward buyer leverage after the pandemic-era surge in sales and prices. San Antonio had 109% more sellers than buyers.
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The combination of rising inventory and slower pace of sales is giving buyers room to negotiate on price and terms.
“It’s a good time to buy if you feel confident in your financial situation and you’re planning to stay in your house for a long time.” Redfin Premier real estate agent Andrew Vallejo said. “Sellers are offering to pay buyers’ closing costs, and the market has slowed to the point where the unique neighborhood with great schools that felt unattainable a couple years ago may now be within reach.”
Nationally, Redfin estimates there were about 37% more sellers than buyers in September — enough to produce the biggest September discounts from asking prices since 2019. The typical home sold for less than its final list price, only about a quarter of sales closed above list price and the median time to go under contract stretched to seven weeks. Mortgage rates averaged in the mid‑6% range.
“Homebuyers have extremely high expectations. Some of them remember being pre-approved for a 3% mortgage rate during the pandemic, which meant they could afford a $450,000 house,” said Roze Swartz, a Redfin real estate agent in Houston. “Now that rates, insurance costs and property taxes have gone up, they can only afford a $325,000 house but still have $450,000 expectations.”
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In Austin, the buyer tilt aligns with a local market that’s active but still cooling from the pre-pandemic and pandemic-era run‑up to record highs. City sales jumped nearly 17% in September, according to Unlock MLS, outpacing a 6.7% gain across the metro as prices eased. The median sale price in the Austin‑Round Rock‑San Marcos area slipped 1.8% to $420,000.
Months of inventory rose to 5.7, edging right up to the six‑month level that traditionally signals a balanced market as active listings climbed and pending sales held steady, the multiple listing service said.
“What we’re seeing in the market now is a healthy level of stability,” Vaike O’Grady, a research adviser at Unlock MLS, said earlier this month. “Homes may be taking a bit longer to sell, but they’re still selling, and buyers are meeting sellers where they are. This consistency shows that the market is functioning as it should — steady, sustainable and well-positioned heading into the end of the year.”
While buying doesn’t make sense for everyone right now, Vallejo said that many of the buyers who are in the market are finding better deals than in years past. But rents are also falling.
“Rents have gone down so much in Austin that a lot of people are opting to rent instead of buy,” he said. “If a home is listed for sale at $500,000 with today’s mortgage rates and a 5% down payment, your monthly payment would be around $4,000, but you could rent that same property for $2,500 a month.”
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In Houston, Redfin data showed 83.8% more sellers than buyers and a modest year‑over‑year decline in prices. Pending sales fell at one of the sharpest rates among large metros Redfin tracks, signaling softer near‑term demand.
The shift means sellers don’t have the power they’ve long held in hot markets across the state and nation.
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“Sellers can’t be picky on price — if they don’t have the lowest price on the market, they’re not even going to get showings,” Swartz said. “It’s better to price low from the start than price high and make a drastic cut after your home has been sitting on the market for months without any offers.”
Dallas-Fort Worth also sits firmly in buyers market territory. Redfin estimated sellers there outnumber buyers by about 100%, and prices are down the most among Texas’ big metros on a year‑over‑year basis.