Last Updated on October 14, 2025
It is important to know what you’re looking for when you start your home search, so most buyers focus on things like the number of bedrooms or proximity to schools.
While home features are very important considerations, that’s not all you need to be aware of while conducting your home search. The current state of your local real estate market can make a big difference in the price of your home—as well as your opportunities at the negotiating table.
Find out what makes a buyer’s market and how the state of today’s market will affect your home search.
What is a buyer’s market?
Simply put, in an active real estate environment, a buyer’s market favors buyers, and a seller’s market favors sellers. But what does that mean? Think back to the supply and demand graphs from school. When underlying economic conditions push up supply from sellers, push down demand from purchasers, or both, then buyers gain an advantage over sellers in price negotiations. A buyer’s market often means that prices are or become lower, as well, “either because buyers have more leverage to negotiate with sellers or because sellers must set lower prices to attract buyers”.
How can you tell if you’re in a buyer’s market?
Your real estate agent looks at the trends of several metrics to determine if the market is moving in favor of buyers or sellers, primarily home supply, days on market, and list-to-sell ratios. Perhaps the most important metric to examine is your market’s months of inventory
Months Supply of Inventory (MSI) is a calculation used by the real estate industry to describe the relationship of sales pace and the number of properties currently on the market if no additional homes were added to the supply. It is calculated by determining the number of homes sold per month and dividing by the total number of properties for sale on the last day of the month. It is susceptible to changes in supply and/or pace.
Typically, we consider 5–7 MOI to be a balanced market. It is a seller’s market when MOI is lower than 5, and a buyer’s market when MOI is higher than 7.
Are we in a buyer’s market right now?
As we predicted at the beginning of the year, interest rates have dipped down and home inventory is up across the nation. Lower interest rates are bringing more buyers into the market, creating more demand for homes. But additional homes on the market are tempering the high demand and fast sales that were driving up home prices during the pandemic years.
Months of inventory remains low for many communities across the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia—particularly in the more affordable price points. This still gives sellers the upper hand in those markets. In contrast, luxury brackets across much of our region are seeing double-digit MOI, signaling a stronger buyer’s market for affluent buyers.
What does this mean for home sellers?
Obviously, home sellers prefer the high buyer demand of seller’s markets—and the higher prices and quicker sales that come along with it. But there are still many ways for sellers to be successful in a buyer’s market. A home that is priced well from the onset, has been well maintained, and is staged and marketed properly can still sell quickly. However, it’s still a good idea to manage expectations when listing your home. Talk to your real estate agent about the market trends in your neighborhood and how long it will take to sell your home.
Reach out to your agent for a market report!
The best way to know whether your community is in a buyer’s or seller’s market is to check your local data.
Howard Hanna Allen Tate and Howard Hanna Beverly-Hanks release regular Quarterly Market Reports that dial in to the data for communities across our footprint. These reports allow you to use the very same data the MLS makes available to your region’s professional real estate agents, including home values, supply levels, and days on market. Reach out to your agent or download your digital market report to see your local real estate market statistics broken out by county.
_____________
Howard Hanna Allen Tate Real Estate is the #1 real estate company in the Carolinas, with more than 80 offices and 1,800 agents serving communities across North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia. As part of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, the largest family-owned and operated real estate company in the United States, Howard Hanna Allen Tate offers a full suite of real estate services, including mortgage, insurance, title, and relocation.
For more information, visit howardhannatate.com.
