Home sellers are increasingly offering concessions such as home repairs as the housing market becomes somewhat more buyer-friendly.
That’s especially true in the Pacific Northwest and the Western U.S. in general. The West region contains nine of the 10 large metro areas where more than half of home sellers are offering concessions, according to a new report from Redfin.
Overall, 44.4% of sellers gave concessions in the first quarter of the year. That’s just shy of the highest level since the data was first tracked in 2019 (45.1% in early 2023).
“More sellers are offering concessions as rising housing costs and economic uncertainty make buyers nervous, and housing supply hits a five-year high,” Redfin said in the report.
Agents told Redfin that some types of sellers, including condo builders, often prefer to give concessions over cutting list prices. What exactly is a concession? In addition to home repairs, a seller concession could also mean covering the buyer’s closing costs, including rate buydowns (in which sellers pay an upfront fee to temporarily reduce buyers’ mortgage rates), or offering new washer-and-dryer units.
Seattle and Portland ranked highest for seller concessions out of the 24 metro areas in the analysis, with 71.3% and 63.9% of sellers offering them, respectively. According to Redfin, high mortgage rates, expensive home prices and uncertainty about the economy are suppressing homebuyer demand, prompting sellers to try to sweeten the deal. But concessions are more popular in some segments of the housing market than others.
“It’s super common to see seller concessions for condos and new-construction townhomes, but less so for single-family homes — unless the single-family home has been sitting on the market for a while,” Stephanie Kastner, an agent in Seattle, said in the report. “Condos have become a tougher sell because of skyrocketing HOA fees and insurance.”
10 cities with the most seller concessions
Here are the large cities that had the highest share of sellers agreeing to concessions in the first quarter of 2025:
- Seattle: 71.3%
- Portland, Oregon: 63.9%
- Atlanta: 61.5%
- San Diego: 60.7%
- Denver: 59.2%
- Los Angeles: 56.1%
- Sacramento, California: 52.5%
- Las Vegas: 51.9%
- Phoenix: 51.2%
- Riverside, California: 51.2%
10 cities with the fewest seller concessions
In other cities, including some of the largest business hubs, concessions are much less common. That could suggest lower housing inventory or higher demand from buyers, but it could also stem from more realistic initial list pricing by sellers and their agents.
These large metros had the lowest share of sales with seller concessions in the first quarter:
- New York: 5.5%
- San Francisco: 14.9%
- San Jose, California: 16.7%
- Boston: 18.7%
- Chicago: 26.4%
- Philadelphia: 27.6%
- Miami: 33.8%
- Tampa, Florida: 33.9%
- Washington: 39.2%
- Baltimore: 41.4%
More from Money:
8 Best Mortgage Lenders of 2025
Here’s Where Homebuyers Are Spending the Most (and Least) on Down Payments
Gen Zers and Millennials See Homeownership as an Impossible Goal
According to a recent report from Redfin, home sellers are increasingly offering concessions, such as home repairs, as the housing market becomes more favorable for buyers. The report states that 44.4% of sellers gave concessions in the first quarter of the year, which is just below the highest level since data was first tracked in 2019. The Western region, particularly the Pacific Northwest, has the highest number of sellers offering concessions, with nine out of the top 10 large metro areas falling in this region. This trend is attributed to rising housing costs, economic uncertainty, and a five-year high in housing supply.
So, what exactly is a concession? It can include covering the buyer’s closing costs, offering rate buydowns, or providing new appliances. According to agents interviewed by Redfin, sellers of condos and new-construction townhomes are more likely to offer concessions compared to sellers of single-family homes. This is due to factors such as high HOA fees and insurance costs making condos a tougher sell.
The top 10 cities with the highest share of sellers offering concessions in the first quarter of 2025 are Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, San Diego, Denver, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Riverside. On the other hand, cities with the lowest share of sellers offering concessions include New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, and Chicago. This could be due to lower housing inventory or higher demand from buyers, but it could also be a result of more realistic initial list pricing by sellers and their agents.
Overall, the increase in seller concessions reflects the current state of the housing market, where buyers have more negotiating power and sellers are looking for ways to make their properties more attractive. As the market continues to shift, it will be interesting to see how this trend evolves and impacts the real estate industry.
Source:Read More