For the past several years, home sellers have been in the driver’s seat, able to command high prices for homes, often selling quickly and with multiple offers. Times appear to be changing.
According to data recently released by Redfin, nationally there are currently 500,000 more home sellers than homebuyers. While somewhat surprisingly, this has yet to result in an overall decrease in housing prices nationally, it does have significant potential impact on both buyers and sellers.
Sellers coming into the market today will find that even homes that are priced “just right” will often linger on the market for much longer than they have in the past several years. In Snohomish County, for example, the average number of days on the market has increased by 25% year over year (May 2024-May 2025). Similarly, there were 47% more homes for sale in Snohomish County in May of 2025 than there were in May of 2024. In order to compensate for this shifting market sellers should:
- Work with their agent to ensure their home is priced right, and not overpriced
- Consider completing a seller procured “pre-inspection” on the house before listing, and complete any repairs in budget to ensure the house is in tip-top shape.
- Work your agent to develop a comprehensive marketing plan to ensure your home stands out from the crowd!
- Plan accordingly! If you will be relying on the proceeds of the sale of your home to purchase your next home, make sure you give adequate time for that process to happen. Sales are not happening as quickly.
If you are a buyer entering this market, you are in a position buyers have not been in for quite some time. With more homes to choose from, and less urgency, you can find yourself in the driver’s seat. Here are some things to consider when buying in today’s market:
- At the height of the housing boom a couple of years ago, people were waiving inspections just to get the house. There truly is no reason to do this now. If a detailed inspection report is not already completed, most sellers fully expect to receive an offer contingent on your inspection.
- Run the comps! After years of incredibly fast market gains, sellers sometimes have inflated opinions about what their home is worth. Once you have found “the one”, make sure your offer is based on market value and not based on the listing price exclusively. You likely have room to negotiate in today’s market.
- Don’t settle. With more houses on the market than buyers, you have the opportunity to wait until a home that meets most of your wants and needs comes along.
- Communicate! If you’ve found a house that you think might be “the one”, have your agent communicate right away with the listing agent. Just because homes are taking longer to sell doesn’t mean you can take your time. It may be the perfect house for another buyer too!
The market has shifted relatively quickly, and has the potential to shift yet again if interest rates are lowered and/or if other market forces change significantly. As always, your best course of action is to partner with an experienced and knowledgeable agent to help guide you through the twists and turns.
