--- title: Buyers Have More Homes to Pick From, and More Room to Haggle description: Home listings hit their highest level since 2020 in August and three in five sold below asking, Redfin reports, giving buyers more room to negotiate. author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) updated: 2026-09-09T15:19:03.540Z canonical: https://richdadmagazine.com/article/housing-supply-six-year-high-buyers-market-2026 image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/housing-supply-buyers-market-276045.webp categories: Real Estate content_type: News region: United States publication: Rich Dad Magazine schema_type: Article --- If you have been house hunting and losing bidding wars, the market shifted in August. Redfin counted more homes for sale than at any point since 2020, with active listings up 3.9% in a single month. New listings rose 2.6% from July, the most fresh inventory since 2022. More homes on the market means less pressure to waive your inspection or bid over asking to win a house for your family. The other half of the change is at the negotiating table. About 60% of homes, three in five, sold below their original asking price in August, Redfin found. Sellers are meeting buyers partway, and an offer under list is now worth making rather than a wasted gesture. ## Prices Are Still Rising, So This Is Not a Crash The national picture is a supply story, not a price drop. The median U.S. home-sale price still rose 2.2% over the past year, Redfin reported. What changed is how many homes you can look at and how hard you can push on the price, not the price itself. If your plan depends on prices falling across the country, the data does not support the wait. If your plan is to have real choice and real negotiating room, that is here now. More homeowners are listing because the lock-in effect is fading. Owners who held onto the low mortgage rates they got during the pandemic are moving anyway as jobs, schools and growing families force the decision. Sellers are also adjusting to a slower market and pricing to sell. ## Where the Extra Homes Are: San Jose, Nashville and Seattle The extra supply is not spread evenly. San Jose led the country in new listings, up 25.5% over the past year, followed by Nashville at 15.8% and Seattle at 13.7%. Counting all homes actively for sale, the biggest yearly jumps were Seattle at 24.2%, Boston at 18.7%, and San Jose at 17.7%. Each market got there a different way. In San Jose the median sale price slipped 2% over the year to $1.5 million, even as nearby San Francisco rose 7.5% to $1.6 million, a split Redfin economists tie to renewed Bay Area interest from the AI boom. Nashville has become one of the strongest buyers markets in the country after years of homebuilding caught up with demand. Seattle's jump partly comes from sellers who sat out 2025 and are now testing the market, though buyer demand there is still slow. If you are shopping in one of these cities, you have the strongest hand; if you are selling in one, you are competing with a lot of other for-sale signs. ## What It Means If You Are Buying or Selling If you are buying for your family this fall, you can slow down, tour more homes, and write an offer below asking without assuming you will be laughed out of the room. Ask for the inspection, and ask for repairs. If you are selling, price it right the first time. With homes widely selling below asking and inventory this deep, an aggressive list price sits and goes stale while sharper-priced neighbors sell. Meet the market and you still walk away with a gain in most places, since prices are up over the year. You can track the national numbers as they move on [Redfin's U.S. housing-market data](https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market). ## FAQ **Q: Is 2026 a buyer's market?** In much of the country it is leaning that way. Redfin reported the most homes for sale since 2020 in August, and about 60% of homes sold below their original asking price, both signs buyers have gained choice and negotiating power. The tilt is strongest in cities like Nashville, San Jose and Seattle. **Q: Will home prices fall in 2026?** Nationally they have not. The median U.S. home-sale price rose 2.2% over the past year, per Redfin. Some individual markets are softer, San Jose's median slipped 2%, but the broad story is more supply and more room to negotiate, not falling prices. **Q: Is it a good time to buy a house?** If you are ready and can afford the payment, you have more leverage now than in years: more listings to choose from and sellers willing to take less than they asked. That does not mean prices are cheap, so the answer still comes down to your own budget and how long you plan to stay. **Q: Which cities have the most homes for sale?** By the biggest yearly jump in active listings, Redfin named Seattle up 24.2%, Boston up 18.7%, and San Jose up 17.7%. For brand-new listings hitting the market, San Jose, Nashville and Seattle led the country.