London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Desperate US home sellers are basically paying buyers to purchase their homes

Desperate US home sellers are basically paying buyers to purchase their homes

Sellers want to off-load properties so badly that they're paying down buyers' mortgage rates and offering money for repairs at record levels.

Sales of previously owned homes have fallen for 10 consecutive months. It's making some home sellers so desperate they're offering buyers cash to purchase their properties. 

It all comes down to the Federal Reserve's ongoing fight against surging inflation, which has effectively put an end to pandemic-era mortgage deals. With higher monthly mortgage payments and near-record-high home prices, fewer Americans are purchasing homes. And in a stark contrast to the housing market of 2020, sellers are losing their grip on the US real-estate market — and it's costing them big. 

Indeed, data from the real-estate brokerage Redfin indicated that in the fourth quarter of 2022, home sellers gave concessions — such as money for home repairs and mortgage-rate buydowns, a technique where a seller pays a fee at closing to secure a lower mortgage rate for a buyer — to buyers in 41.9% of home sales. 

That's the highest rate Redfin has ever recorded over a three-month period.

"Buyers are asking sellers for things that were unheard of during the past few years," Van Welborn, a Redfin real-estate agent based in Phoenix, said in the report. "They're feeling empowered, partly because their offer is often the only one, and partly because they know sellers have built up so much equity during the pandemic that they can afford to dole out sizable concessions."

With fewer deals taking place, home prices are falling in cities across the country — even in previously hot markets like Austin and Phoenix. It's causing some homeowners to do whatever they can to sell their homes quickly.


Buyers are seeing more discounts and reclaiming their power


Buyers are also receiving more price cuts. According to Redfin, a record 22% of home sales Redfin agents made in the fourth quarter of 2022 included both a concession and a final-sale deduction. Additionally, a record 19% included both a concession and a listing-price cut while the home was still on the market, and a record 11% included all three incentives.

Brian Lewis, a housing expert and broker with the real-estate firm Compass, said that in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago a, general lack of homes for sale is also helping shift the market in favor of buyers. 

"Here's the thing about America, we don't have inventory," Lewis said in an interview on Fox on Thursday. "In New York City, it's tight. In Richmond, Virginia, it's tight. In some areas of Chicago, it's tight. My Los Angeles offices are saying that it's tight out there, too." 

When home prices and mortgage rates are both high, buyers are reluctant to dive in. That means sellers need to compete for the few that are willing to make offers under such conditions. Lewis said these dynamics have made it unmistakable that "homebuyers have way more power" than sellers. 

"It took a while, but seller expectations are coming back down to earth," Welborn said. "Sellers realize they're not going to get $80,000 over the asking price like their neighbor did last year."

Comments

Oh ya 3 year ago
Its not just housing crashing it is everything, car sales and thousands losing their jobs. It is a recession or worse a depression that is happening. 250.000 people who bought homes last year are now underwater on the mortgage. Get out of debt and stock up on food because the prices are raising quickly

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×