Seven of the biggest metro areas are officially buyers’ markets as fears of market crash

Fresh fears of a housing market crash have emerged after seven of the 50 largest US metro areas became official buyer’s markets. 

Summer ended in a stand-off between reluctant buyers and stubborn sellers. Homes are sitting on the market longer, brand new houses are selling for less than old properties, and mortgage rates are getting lower every day.

In other words, it’s a great time to be a buyer, according to Realtor.com’s August 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends report.. 

A buyer’s market occurs when there are more homes for sale than buyers. This gives buyers leverage: they can negotiate lower prices, ask for concessions, and take their time finding the right property. 

By contrast, a seller’s market has more buyers than available homes, meaning houses sell quickly — often above asking price — and buyers have less negotiating power. 

Nationally, the housing market reached a balance of five months of supply this summer — the first time since Realtor.com began tracking the data nine years ago. 

That figure is significant because it represents roughly even ground between buyers and sellers. 

Low supply, two to three months, favors sellers, while high supply, of six months or more, favors buyers. 

Miami (pictured) topped the list of metro areas that are currently buyer’s markets with a 9.7 months’ supply, meaning it would take almost 10 months to sell all of the city’s listings at the current pace

Miami’s median home price in June was $510,00 — down 4.7 percent from the same time last year (pictured: a neighborhood in Miami)

The months of supply metric shows how long it would take to sell all homes currently on the market if no new listings were added, assuming homes keep selling at the current pace.

To determine the months of supply, economists used the most recently available June sales data. 

While a five-month supply reported nationally suggests that the market is balanced between both buyers and sellers, focusing in on the country’s largest metro areas tells a different story. 

Of the top 50 US metros, seven had at least six months of supply in June, placing them in the buyer’s market category. 

Miami, FL, was at the top of the list — with a 9.7 months’ supply, meaning it would take almost 10 months to sell all of the city’s listings at the current pace. 

In June, the median price of a home in Miami was $510,00 — down 4.7 percent from the same time last year. 

Meanwhile, the city’s inventory surged 35 percent compared with the same period in 2024, and the average home waited for a buyer 15 days longer than last year. 

Austin, TX, was second in the rankings, with 7.7 months’ supply. The Texan city became a pandemic boomtown, but buyer demand has since softened. 

Austin, Texas, was second in the rankings, with 7.7 months’ supply. The Texan city became a pandemic boomtown, but buyer demand has since softened (pictured: Austin’s cityscape)

New York City was another major metro that has transitioned into a buyer’s market – with a 6.7 months’ supply 

Orlando, another sunny Southern metro, came in third place with a 6.9 months’ supply (pictured: Orlando’s Disney World park)

In June, the median list price was $525,950, and by August, the typical house in Austin was priced at just under $500,000 — down 4.8 percent from a year ago. 

Another sunny Southern metro came in third — Orlando, with a 6.9 months’ supply.

In June, the city — which famously houses Disney World — saw a median listing price of $429,473, a 3.4 percent decrease. Orlando has been a buyer’s market since January.

‘The markets in Miami, Austin, and Orlando have been moving in a buyer-friendly direction for some time now,’ said Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel. 

‘Inventory levels, time on market, and price reductions are all up significantly in those metros, as well as much of the South and West.’

Next in the rankings were New York City (6.7 months’ supply), Jacksonville (6.3 months’ supply), Tampa (6.3 months’ supply), and Riverside (6.1 months’ supply).

While a buyer’s market is obviously great news for buyers, it can be an ominous sign for the economy as a whole. 

A buyer’s market can be an early warning sign of a cooling market, or even a housing market crash, because it usually indicates other economic struggles — such as affordability crises, high interest rates and weak consumer confidence.

The 2008 financial crash started with a buyer’s market, but was fueled by the subprime mortgage collapse (when lenders gave loans to borrowers with poor credit or unstable incomes), foreclosures, and job losses.