Nearly Half of Homebuyers Getting Concessions From Sellers

The number of home sellers giving concessions to buyers rose in August, and it’s an August level not seen in at least six years.

That’s according to a new report from Redfin that said sellers gave concessions to buyers in 44.7% of U.S. home sales in August, up from 42.6% a year earlier and the highest share for that month since at least 2020.

Redin noted that the increase reflects today’s buyer-friendly housing market: August was the strongest buyer’s market in records dating back to 2013. More homes are for sale, and fewer buyers are competing for them. Sellers are increasingly willing to cover closing costs, pay for repairs, or offer other incentives to get deals across the finish line.

“Buyers know they can be picky. They’re asking for every concession under the sun,” said Amanda Peterson, a Redfin Premier agent in Dallas. “That’s especially true for newly built homes. Builders are offering $10,000 or $20,000 in concessions, buying down mortgage rates and throwing in appliances. I had clients walk away from a home they loved because the pantry was too small and they didn’t like the laundry room—even after the sellers offered to alter the floor plan. There are so many homes for sale that buyers are holding out for one that checks every box.”

Sun Belt Sellers Sweeten the Deal

Eight of the 10 places where concessions are most common are in the Sun Belt, Redfin said.

Atlanta is number one, with home sellers giving concessions to buyers in nearly three-quarters (72.8%) of homebuying deals in August, the online brokerage noted.

Atlanta is followed by Charlotte, North Carolina, where 67.9% of sellers provided concessions to buyers, Phoenix (67.4%), Las Vegas (66.7%), and Raleigh, North Carolina (66.3%). Nashville, Houston, Denver, Riverside, California, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, all places where roughly three in five sellers gave concessions, round out the top 10.

Phoenix, Charlotte and Riverside are also the places where concessions increased most from a year ago, Redfin said.

The brokerage noted that concessions are most prevalent in those metros largely because they’re big-time buyer’s markets.

For example, Nashville, Houston and Las Vegas are among the five strongest buyer’s markets in the nation, Redfin said, with more than twice as many sellers as buyers. Buyers have a lot of options, and sellers are competing for offers—making it more likely that they’ll provide concessions to close the deal.

Many of those places were hot homebuying spots during the pandemic boom, when low mortgage rates and remote work were motivating people to move, Redfin said.

Much of the Sun Belt built homes at a rapid rate to meet demand; Texas, North Carolina, Arizona and Tennessee were home to some of the most active building pipelines in the nation. Since then, their housing markets have done a 180, leaving diminished demand and a large number of listings, Redfin said.

Least Common? The Bay Area and New York

The brokerage noted that concessions were least common in San Jose, California, where 4.2% of home sellers gave concessions to buyers in August.

Next were New York (5.7%), followed by another Bay Area metro area, San Francisco (18.6%). Chicago (21.9%) and Philadelphia (25.5%) rounded out the five places where concessions were least common.

Fewer sellers are giving concessions to buyers in those places because their housing markets are relatively strong.

Redfin said the concession rate declined in nine of the 29 markets in Redfin’s analysis.

Notably, it dropped most in Seattle, where 48.5% of sellers gave concessions in August, down from roughly 70% a year earlier. Seattle had a very high share of concessions in summer 2025, so it had a lot of room to fall. Also, nearly three in five (57%) of Seattle homes that sold in August went for below asking price—so buyers are getting discounts, just not necessarily from concessions.

The next-biggest declines were in San Jose (4.2% of home sellers gave buyers concessions, down from 10.2%) and San Diego (57.1%, down from 62.4%), Redfin said.

San Jose’s market is getting hot because of its proximity to San Francisco’s AI-driven market.

Some sellers are giving concessions to buyers and dropping their asking price.

Nationwide, 15.8% of homes that sold in August had a price drop in addition to a concession, Redfin said. That’s up incrementally from 15.6% a year earlier, and the highest August share in our records, Redfin said.