{"id":473,"date":"2026-08-14T12:38:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=473"},"modified":"2026-08-14T12:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:38:45","slug":"who-has-the-upper-hand-in-todays-real-estate-housing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=473","title":{"rendered":"Who Has the Upper Hand in Today&#8217;s Real Estate Housing Market?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"pt-8 px-8\">\n<h2 class=\"profile-color-text text-3xl\">Who Has the Upper Hand in Today&#8217;s Real Estate Housing Market?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"mt-6 text-base-content flex items-center flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-2\"><span class=\"flex items-center flex-wrap gap-1\"><time class=\"text-base-content\" datetime=\"2026-08-13T10:30:00Z\">Thursday August 13th, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<div>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-6 text-base-content flex items-center flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-2\"><span class=\"flex items-center flex-wrap gap-1\"><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/buyers\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">For Buyers,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/sellers\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">For Sellers,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/buying-tips\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">Buying Tips,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/selling-tips\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">Selling Tips<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-6 px-8\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-3 sm:flex gap-1 flex-wrap w-fit sm:w-full my-4\">.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-6 flex flex-col gap-4 mb-8\">\n<div class=\"mb-2\">\n<p>Ask around and almost every homebuyer out there wants to know if there\u2019s a way to get a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/2026\/07\/20\/more-homes-better-prices-a-buyers-summer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">better deal<\/a>. And just about every seller wants to know if they&#8217;ll still get\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/2026\/07\/29\/home-price-growth-slowed-down-that-may-be-changing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">top dollar<\/a>. But who actual has the upper hand in today&#8217;s real estate house market?<\/p>\n<p>The interesting thing is&#8230;\u00a0<strong><em>both can be right at the exact same time<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0<strong><em>It just depends on where you live.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s because today&#8217;s housing market isn&#8217;t moving in one direction anymore. Some markets clearly favor buyers. Others still favor sellers. But most are sitting somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n<p>And knowing which market you&#8217;re actually in can completely change the strategy you use to buy or sell (and what expectations you should have). Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>One Number Tells You Who&#8217;s Got Leverage<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>So how do you know which market\u00a0<em>you&#8217;re<\/em>\u00a0in? There&#8217;s one number that tells the story faster than anything else: the months&#8217; supply of homes for sale. It&#8217;s the clearest signal of who&#8217;s got leverage \u2013 and what strategy you&#8217;ll need. Think of it like this.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine no additional homes were listed starting today. Months&#8217; supply tells us how long it would take to sell everything that&#8217;s currently on the market based on today\u2019s demand.<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, if months\u2019 supply is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fewer than 4 months:<\/strong>\u00a0Sellers usually have the advantage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>4 to 6 months:<\/strong>\u00a0Buyers and sellers are on more equal footing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>More than 6 months:<\/strong>\u00a0Buyers can usually negotiate for a better deal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Right now, the\u00a0<em>National Association of Realtors<\/em>\u00a0(NAR) data\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/research-and-statistics\/housing-statistics\/existing-home-sales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">says<\/a>\u00a0that number is 4.6 and that puts the overall market back in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/2026\/06\/18\/is-it-still-a-sellers-market-heres-what-the-data-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">balanced territory<\/a>\u00a0(<em>see graph below<\/em>):<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/KeepingCurrentMatters\/content\/images\/20260805\/20260813-The-Most-Balanced-original.png\" alt=\"a graph of a market\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That means, as a whole, the market has finally moved back into a much more balanced range after years of being tilted in sellers\u2019 favor. While that may look like the scales have tipped only slightly, it\u2019s enough to make a real difference in what strategy you\u2019ll need for your move \u2013 at least in most places.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Tale of Two Markets: Why &#8216;Balanced&#8217; Doesn&#8217;t Mean the Same Thing Everywhere<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em>Redfin<\/em>\u00a0data helps shed some light on how this shakes out across the country. It breaks down which cities are leaning in either direction (<em>see graph below<\/em>).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some markets give<strong>\u00a0<em>buyers<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>more leverage.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Those are in blue.<\/li>\n<li>Some still favor<strong>\u00a0<em>sellers<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s the orange.<\/li>\n<li>Others fall somewhere<strong>\u00a0<em>in between<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Those are gray.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/KeepingCurrentMatters\/content\/images\/20260805\/20260813-From-Miami-original.png\" alt=\"a graph of a market\" \/>Notice anything? A lot more places are seeing more buyer-friendly conditions right now.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>In fact, this is the most buyer-friendly market we\u2019ve seen in nearly 6 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But don\u2019t take that as buyers have the upper hand everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>There are still cities where sellers still have the power. And if you&#8217;re in one of them, your approach to selling or buying looks completely different than it would in a buyer-leaning market.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Biggest Mistake You Can Make Right Now<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>That\u2019s why the biggest mistake isn&#8217;t thinking it&#8217;s finally a buyer&#8217;s market. And it isn&#8217;t thinking it&#8217;s still a seller&#8217;s market either. It&#8217;s making any assumption without talking to an expert agent first.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s market is incredibly local. In one market, a buyer may be getting thousands of dollars in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/2026\/07\/13\/the-take-it-or-leave-it-attitude-is-fading-from-the-market-what-that-means-for-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">concessions<\/a>\u00a0from a seller. And a homeowner may have to consider dropping their price.<\/p>\n<p>But in another, a buyer may be stressed about coming in with their best offer, or they may lose out on the home to another buyer. And a seller may still be seeing strong demand and prices inching higher.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Same overall housing market.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Very<\/em>\u00a0different experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The truth is what\u2019s happening in your back yard affects everything from pricing your house to making an offer to negotiating repairs or concessions. And that\u2019s why an agent\u2019s local knowledge matters more now than ever before.<\/p>\n<p>Your plan has to be based on your neighborhood \u2013 and only an agent has the expertise to get that right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"text-xl mb-2\">Bottom Line<\/h3>\n<p>This market isn\u2019t one-size-fits-all.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re wondering who has the upper hand where we live, let&#8217;s talk. I&#8217;ll show you exactly what the numbers look like in our market \u2013 and what strategy gives you the best shot at getting what you want.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?page_id=293\">https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?page_id=293<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zillow.com\/profile\/Twila%20Bertrand\">https:\/\/www.zillow.com\/profile\/Twila%20Bertrand<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realtor.com\/realestateagents\/5681713b0fa4170100733a37\">https:\/\/www.realtor.com\/realestateagents\/5681713b0fa4170100733a37<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who Has the Upper Hand in Today&#8217;s Real Estate Housing Market? Thursday August 13th, 2026 . For Buyers,For Sellers,Buying Tips,Selling Tips . Ask around and almost every homebuyer out there wants to know if there\u2019s a way to get a\u00a0better deal. And just about every seller wants to know if they&#8217;ll still get\u00a0top dollar. But [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194391,"featured_media":474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/194391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}