The Tri-Cities isn’t the only place where homebuyers found themselves with more leverage this past summer. 

There were an estimated 35.2% more home sellers than buyers in the U.S. housing market in August – 505,915 more, according to Seattle-based real estate brokerage Redfin. The company’s research found that it was as far back as 2013 when sellers last outnumbered buyers by a greater percentage – 36.3%.  

At the same time, there were an estimated 1.44 million homebuyers in the U.S. housing market in August, the lowest level in records dating back to 2013 aside from the onset of the pandemic, when the housing market ground to a halt. 

The market has been shedding homebuyers due to rising home prices and high mortgage rates. But mortgage rates have fallen in recent weeks, trimming hundreds of dollars from monthly payments for homebuyers and fueling an uptick in refinancing activity among existing homeowners. 

“We haven’t yet seen a big jump in homebuyer demand due to declining mortgage rates,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research. “Buyers may show up in greater numbers if mortgage rates keep falling, which could happen if the economy continues to weaken. If the economy slows further, the Fed may cut rates more than expected, but the catch is that a slowing economy could push the U.S. into a recession.” 

Sellers continue to outnumber buyers, but sellers have noticed homebuyers retreating and have started retreating in response. There were an estimated 1.94 million home sellers in the housing market in August, the lowest level since January. That’s down from a peak of 1.99 million in May. In other words, the housing market has shed roughly 50,000 sellers over the past three months. This is not reflective of a seasonal shift, as these data are seasonally adjusted. 

Some sellers are delisting after watching their homes sit on the market for months with zero bites from buyers, while others are opting not to list at all after seeing their neighbor’s house sell for under the asking price.