Rising housing costs and economic uncertainty are adversely affecting home sellers, according to a new Redfin report. As buyers hesitate to make significant investments, sellers are compelled to offer concessions and reduce prices. The report also highlights a spike in canceled pending home sales last month.
Redfin compiled the latest report based on data collected from buyers’ agents nationwide. The real estate brokerage analyzed the concession rates in 24 major U.S. metropolitan areas and also provided the home-purchase cancellations data for 44 of the 50 most populous US metros.
Highlights
- A Redfin Home Seller Concessions report brought to light the rising trend of home sellers offering concessions and lowering prices.
- Seattle had the highest concession rates, while New York had the lowest.
- There has also been a slight increase in the number of pending home-sale cancellations compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Home Sellers Making Concessions, Lowering Asking Prices
The housing supply in the US is at a five-year high, and the market currently favors buyers. In light of this, sellers have increasingly been offering concessions, according to the latest Redfin report. More than 2 out of 5, 44% of sellers have been offering concessions to buyers, the report said. These concessions include assistance with repair costs, closing costs, and, in some cases, mortgage-rate buydowns.
The increased housing inventory has intensified competition among sellers. Sellers are also forced to offer concessions to attract buyers when the homes are overpriced and linger in the market for too long.
Seattle had the highest percentage of home sellers offering concessions in the first quarter of 2025, with 71.3%, nearly double last year’s figure of 36.4%. Portland follows as the second city with the highest share of sellers offering concessions, at 63.9%, marking a 14.2% increase from the previous year. Atlanta, San Diego, and Denver take the next three spots in the highest concession rates.
New York recorded the lowest concession rate, with only 5.5% of deals involving concessions, indicating a strong seller’s market. San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, and Chicago are the other metros that had the lowest concession rates.
In addition to offering concessions, some sellers are also finding themselves having to sell their homes for less than the asking price. Many sellers have been forced to reduce their asking prices after listing their properties or even accept offers below the original price.
That said, homebuyers have been less enthusiastic about purchasing due to soaring home prices, high mortgage rates, and the uncertainty surrounding the economy.
Home Sales Fail to Close
The Redfin report also stated that about 52,000 home sale contracts were canceled in March. This was 13.4% of all the homes that were being sold that month. This is a 0.2 points increase from this time last year. Major Metros like Orlando, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa are among the cities that had the highest share of pending sales that fell out of contract in March 2025.
Housing demand is expected to decrease in the coming months as the economy remains unstable. Since housing market issues were a major topic in the last presidential election, it remains to be seen how the current administration will address the situation.
