The number of homebuyers in the US market fell to its lowest level on record in July, according to a new report from real estate brokerage Redfin. An estimated 966,752 buyers were active nationwide, down 2.5% from June, while an estimated 1,462,921 sellers were active — down 0.3% to the lowest seller count in a year, but still nearly half a million more than the number of buyers.
Sellers outnumbered buyers by 51.3% in July, just shy of December 2025’s record of 51.8%, and up sharply from June’s 47.9%. Redfin defines a market where sellers outnumber buyers by more than 10% as a buyer’s market; nearly 80% of major US metros now qualify, led by Miami, Nashville and a trio of Texas cities, where the gap between sellers and buyers is widest.
“Buyers are dropping out faster than sellers, giving the buyers who remain more options and more negotiating power,” said Redfin senior economist Asad Khan. He pointed to uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates, combined with rising mortgage rates this summer, as factors keeping would-be buyers on the sidelines. Khan called the stretch between now and Labor Day “a potential sweet spot” for buyers and sellers to meet in the middle, before an early-autumn rush is expected to bring some buyers back to the market.
Redfin’s report frames the widening gap as a demand story rather than a supply one: the seller count also fell month-on-month, but by far less than the buyer count did.
