Real Estate Agents Are Calling a Balanced Market in 2025
A new CNBC Housing Market Survey shows a sharp rise in agents spotting balance, with far fewer price cuts hitting active listings.
The housing market narrative is shifting fast. A growing number of real estate agents now say conditions feel balanced between buyers and sellers — a meaningful move away from the lopsided seller dominance that defined the post-pandemic years. The CNBC Housing Market Survey is catching this turn in real time.
Here's the number that should grab your attention: agents reporting at least one price cut on active listings dropped dramatically compared to prior survey rounds. That's not a small tweak — that's a signal. When sellers stop slashing prices, it tells you demand is holding up enough to meet supply without a fight.
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For buyers, this is actually tradeable information. A balanced market means you've got more negotiating room than you did in 2021 or 2022, but don't expect sellers to cave just because you show up. Inventory is still the wildcard, and regional variation matters enormously. What's balanced in one metro could still be a war zone two states over.
For anyone sitting on the sidelines waiting for a crash, this data pushes back on that thesis. Agents on the ground are your best early-warning system — they see offers, contingencies, and days-on-market before any government report catches up. And right now, they're not describing a market in freefall. They're describing equilibrium.
Whether this balance holds depends on mortgage rates, inventory trends, and broader economic conditions — none of which are guaranteed to cooperate. But the direction of travel in this survey is clear: the extreme seller's market is fading, and something more neutral is taking its place. Continue reading at US Top News and Analysis.
