Prices have cooled a little, and buyers have new room to negotiate. So are we heading into a buyer’s market? The honest answer surprises most people.
Home prices across Texas have cooled a little from their peak, and buyers suddenly have more room to negotiate than they’ve had in years. For a while it was the opposite, with sellers holding all the cards, so the shift has left a lot of people scratching their heads, wondering whether to jump in or hold off. So are we heading into a buyer’s market, or not? The honest answer isn’t quite what most people expect, and it’s more useful than a simple yes or no.
So, are we? Close, but not there yet. Across the country, we’re not in a buyer’s market. We’re somewhere in the middle, pretty balanced, and that’s a real change from the last few years, when sellers held all the cards. It’s just not the same as buyers taking over.
Statewide, the typical home is selling for about 2% less than it did a year ago, a long way from the double-digit jumps we all got used to, but nowhere near a crash. Homes are sitting a little longer, and buyers can breathe again. So things are drifting toward the middle, and in some spots, toward buyers. If you’re holding out for prices to collapse so you can grab a steal, the numbers don’t show that either.
There’s one number that tells you which way a market leans. If you take away just one thing, make it this. That number is called months of supply, and it’s easy to understand once you know it: if nobody listed another home, how long would it take to sell everything that’s for sale right now? A few months, or a lot?
Here’s how to read it. Under four months, sellers have the edge. Four to six months, it’s pretty even. More than six months, buyers are in charge. Nationally, we’re at about 4.9 months, which is why the market is moving closer to balance, not a buyer’s market yet.
But the national number barely tells you anything about your street. Here in Texas, active listings are sitting at about a 5.4-month supply, a little further along toward buyers than the country as a whole, with homes taking around 65 days to sell. Even that statewide figure hides a lot. Your town, your price range, even your zip code can be leaning a completely different way. That’s the whole ballgame.
Here’s what it means for you. It comes down to which side you’re on. If you’re buying, this works in your favor. You’ve got more breathing room than you’ve had in years, more homes to pick from, more time to think, and real room to ask for a better price, repairs, or terms. You don’t have to throw out every condition and pile on tens of thousands over asking just to have a shot anymore.
If you’re selling, here’s the honest reality, and it’s the part that actually protects you. The days of naming any price and getting it are done. Your home will still sell, and sell well, but only if you price it for the market you’re actually in, not for what your neighbor got two years ago.
Either way, the answer was never in a national headline, and it isn’t in whatever a website guesses your home is worth either. It’s in your local numbers, and those are exactly what we keep an eye on for the people we work with.
If you’re trying to figure out whether now’s the right time to buy or sell in Texas, don’t base it on a national headline that has nothing to do with your neighborhood. Let’s sit down, look at your actual local numbers together, and figure out what they mean for you. Call or text 888-333-4838 or visit christopherwatters.com. Let’s make this decision with real information, not guesswork.
