Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- A Redfin analysis shows a growing gap between U.S. home list and sale prices.
- March's median list price rose 6.2%, while sale prices increased only 2.5%.
- Buyers have the upper hand, with sellers likely needing to lower prices.
SALT LAKE CITY — Sellers increasingly want more for their houses than buyers are willing to pay.
That's according to a new analysis from Redfin, the nation's largest brokerage website that found the typical list price for homes in the United States reached a record $469,729 in March, but the typical price for those sold that month was nearly $39,000 less.
It's the biggest such gap since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic buying frenzy that drove up housing prices. The gap is widening because list prices are heading up more than twice as fast as sale prices.
March's median list price is 6.2% higher year over year, the largest increase since September 2022, Redfin reported. At the same time, the $431,057 median sale price rose just 2.5%, the smallest increase since September 2023.
The metro areas that saw the biggest gaps are West Palm Beach, Florida, where the median list price shot up 9.3% to $535,500 but the median sale price fell 0.3% to $508,500; followed by Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Jacksonville, Fla.
The analysis looked at the nation's 50 most populous metro areas, a list that does not include Utah.
Do homebuyers now have the upper hand?
Unlike the pandemic-era housing market that sparked bidding wars, growth in sale prices is slowing. Still, Redfin said sellers are continuing to price their properties high based on past sale prices of comparable homes.
"Homebuyers today have the upper hand because they're outnumbered by sellers, and that's a tough pill for sellers to swallow," Redfin senior economist Elijah de la Campa said, adding that "buyers and sellers are on different planets" right now.
"One side eventually has to give in, and it's looking like it's going to be sellers this time," he said. "Rising inventory, price drops and seller concessions indicate this is already starting to happen, and sale-price growth will likely continue to slow as a result."
Would-be buyers have also told pollsters they're more hesitant to make big purchases now due to the financial uncertainty resulting from President Donald Trump's tariff and immigration policies that have roiled financial markets around the world.
What about home pricing in Utah?
In Utah, the spring housing market is being described as "weird," with some shoppers waiting to see if home prices are going to start dropping as the stock market has done repeatedly recently, despite a jump in housing inventory.
So far, it doesn't feel like a buyers' market to Sugar House real estate agent Max Strayer.
"We're just in this weird place where pricing is of the utmost importance. So if you had a great house in a great area that's priced appropriately, that's going to fly," Strayer said, adding that sellers who try to "push it on price" may end up having to do a reduction to attract buyers.
"Pricing is extremely important," he said. "I would not try and push the market right now."
Redfin data for the Salt Lake area showed a median list price of $550,000 for March, while the median sale price was $515,000, a $35,000 gap. In March 2024, the median list price was slightly lower, at $547,350, and median sale price, slightly higher, at $520,000.
