Are sellers now courting buyers?

Home sellers have been in the real estate driver’s seat for some time since there was more demand for homes than homes available to buy.

However, as 2023 opened, sellers were making some concessions to buyers.

According to Redfin, 42 percent of sellers in late 2022 offered at least one concession to buyers. That is 31 percent higher than the year before. These concessions, according to Redfin, tend to mask the true cost of a home purchase since list and closing prices don’t change. So even though prices remained steady, sellers were often giving cash credit for repairs, closing costs, and mortgage buy downs, according to Redfin.

Still, in late 2022, when interest rates started rising, fewer buyers were out. People who had to sell were eager to attract a buyer.

That micro-economy might not hold through the home sales season this summer, though. New mortgage applications have picked up somewhat as interest rates tick slowly down.

In many locations, the supply of homes to buy is still below demand, which suggests that it’s still a great time to sell.

Meanwhile, there is good news for buyers, too, with a new FHFA mortgage discount program for first-time buyers, which makes it easier to get a mortgage approved without 20 percent down.