New data pinpoints the 41 metros where sellers are cutting and the nine where they won't
Homes are now selling below their list price in 41 of the 50 most populous United States metros, according to a new report from Best Interest Financial and Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based real estate platform.
The report, which analyzed Redfin data across the 50 largest US metros, arrives as the national housing market continues to bifurcate.
Elevated mortgage rates have cooled buyer demand while inventory has climbed, giving sellers in some cities less room to hold firm.
In others, tight supply keeps the advantage squarely on their side.
Detroit leads, Hartford locks buyers out
No market favors buyers more than Detroit, Michigan, where roughly 20% of active listings carry a price reduction and sellers trim an average of 6.2% off the asking price, the second-largest discount of any city studied.
The metro's median sale price of $224,308 is the lowest in the report, making it one of the more accessible entry points for first-time buyers navigating a still-expensive national landscape.
San Antonio, Texas, tops the country for discounted listings, with 28.2% of active inventory marked down.
All four of Texas's major metros — San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Houston — rank among the ten most favorable markets for buyers, a regional concentration unmatched anywhere else in the study.
On the other hand, Hartford, Connecticut, offers the least room to negotiate. Just 10.6% of its listings carry a reduction, and the typical home sells at roughly 104.3% of list price.
Buyers targeting the broader Northeast or coastal California — where San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, New York, and Providence all sit above list price on average — should expect competition and limited concession leverage.
Seller concessions hit a record high in May, according to separate Redfin data, suggesting that brokers who structure rate buydowns or closing-cost credits into offers can turn softening list prices into meaningful affordability gains for clients, particularly in the buyer-friendly markets identified in the new study.
The window may be closing
The favorable conditions for buyers appear widespread but fragile. Price-drop activity declined in more than half of the 50 metros over the past year, and the sale-to-list-price ratio climbed in more than a third, signals that leverage may be drifting back toward sellers in markets where it had recently appeared.
Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), previously told Mortgage Professional America that "in more and more markets around the country, it's going to be a buyer's market as opposed to a seller's market." That's a forecast that has largely materialized across 2026, though its durability now depends on whether inventory holds and rates ease.
The Midwest remains the most active zone of expanding buyer power. Eight of the 15 metros with the biggest year-over-year increases in price cuts are in the region, including Cincinnati, Indiana-polis, Grand Rapids, and Kansas City.
For brokers, the tactical read is straightforward. Clients in Texas, the Midwest, and parts of Florida have genuine room to negotiate today. Those eyeing coastal metros should be prepared to move quickly.
With the US buyer's market recently hitting its strongest point in years, the window to act may be narrower than the current data suggests.
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