8 Tips For Fall Buyers

The busiest time of year for buying and selling homes is behind us, but for many shoppers and sellers, the coming months are a period of opportunity.

There’s a lot of uncertainty out there, and some buyers are just waiting to see what happens. If you’re able to buy, fall could be a good time since you won’t be competing against a lot of other buyers.

The downside to shopping in the fall is that buyers may find fewer new choices than if they had shopped months earlier. There are more homes for sale now than in the past five years as we head into the fall.

 With that background, here’s how the fall 2025 market is likely to shape up:

1. Buyers have more homes to choose from 

The number of homes for sale is the highest it’s been since July of 2020, Coming out of a slow spring and summer, when a lot of new listings didn’t find buyers, there’s a good chance the pattern will repeat this fall.

New listings in May were up 4.5% over the same period a year earlier, and the total number of homes listed for sale is up 20% from last year, offering buyers more options than at any time since July 2020.

Home shopping season has been very soft this year. This year, we peaked in February, March and April – that was the height of it. And now it’s going to slowly cool until we hit the end of the year, when it should start picking up again.

2. More homes = more time to shop

The pace of decision-making is still far from leisurely, but fewer shoppers in the fall means buyers are likely to have more time to consider their options.

If you’re a buyer, you’re likely to have more time to decide on your options. You have time to really consider if that home is the right fit for you.

3. Buyers can lock in their budgets

Mortgage rates have hovered around 6% to 7% for most of the past year. Barring some unfavorable economic news, rates are not expected to change much going into fall.

That’s disappointing news for buyers since higher rates mean higher monthly payments. But it also means more predictability for buyers who have their home-buying budgets locked in.

4. Prices have flattened in many markets

In recent years, huge price growth meant buyers were constantly chasing the number they needed to hit their budgets for buying and down payments. This year’s sluggish market has kept prices in check, and economists are predicting a decline of 1.4% in home values by the end of the year. 

Slower appreciation and flattening home values are giving buyers a much-needed break from the price run-ups of the past four years.

5. Sellers are still cutting prices

Last fall, price cuts were highest in July, August, September and October, and began to decline gradually in November.

Nationally, the share of listings with a price cut in May climbed to 26%, and many sellers are sweetening deals with concessions such as covering closing costs or buying down mortgage interest rates for the first one to three years. 

6. The market is more balanced

As more sellers list their homes for sale, the advantage that sellers enjoyed for the past few years has largely disappeared in favor of a neutral market that favors buyers and sellers equally.

Zillow data shows that sellers tend to have the edge in the spring and lose it in the fall, when a lot of potential buyers retrench for either the holidays or the next home shopping season. 

7. Buyers may be able to avoid bidding wars

These dreaded bidding wars, common the past few years, are super stressful and demoralizing if you’ve ever lost out on a home you hoped to buy. Now that we are in a buyer’s market or a more neutral one, you’re less likely to be up against multiple buyers angling for the same home. Regardless of the season, competing against fewer buyers makes bidding wars less likely.

8. Buyers may have more negotiating power

Sellers who listed in April, May or June and haven’t sold by summer often lower prices, hoping for a fall sale. If you’re a buyer who is hoping to strike a deal, look for homes that have been on the market for a while and that may already have lowered prices to entice buyers. You may find a motivated seller who is more willing to negotiate.   

The right time to buy?

Affordability challenges created by higher interest rates and escalating home prices have resulted in demand by potential buyers who are waiting for the right time to buy. If interest rates drop unexpectedly, some of that demand is likely to get unleashed as rate drops will cause a surge in buyers.  

As always, there’s no one right time to buy. Given the pace of price cuts and slower sales speeds this year, fall could be an opportune time for buyers who know what they want, can afford to buy at current prices and interest rates, and appreciate a little cushion at the negotiating table. If that sounds like you, this could be your sweet spot.

Just be sure to have your budget figured out, and your financing lined up so you can focus your search and act quickly if you find a home you love.