Fewer Buyers Are Competing Right Now. That Shows Up in Four Places on Your Contract.

Time to decide, contingencies you would have waived in 2021, repairs after the inspection, and money toward closing costs or a rate buydown. Nationally, sellers gave concessions in 44.7% of August sales, the highest August share in Redfin's records since at least 2020. The room shows up in terms far more often than it shows up in price.

Something gets lost in the conversation about rates. Homes are still going under contract every week in San Diego North County. San Diego MLS data through early September had year-to-date sales up 2.4% over last year. Fewer people are shopping, but the ones who are keep closing.

That combination is the whole point. Here is where it actually turns into something you can use, stage by stage.

Before you write: the listing already told you

Two numbers on any listing tell you how much room is in it:

• Days on market, measured from the original list date rather than a relisting date
• Whether the price has already been reduced, and by how much and how many times

Across the San Diego, Carlsbad and San Marcos single-family market as of September 23, weekly tracking from Altos Research put median time on market at 49 days with roughly 35% of active listings carrying a price reduction. A home sitting at day 55 with two reductions behind it is a different conversation than one listed nine days ago.

But the room is not spread evenly

This is where the headline version of the story falls apart, and it is worth knowing before you go in expecting a bargain.

Same county, same week, two completely different negotiations. Nationally the picture is even more lopsided. Redfin called August the strongest buyer's market in its records going back to 2013, with sellers outnumbering buyers by 58%. Yet concessions ran at only 4.2% in San Jose, the lowest of any metro it tracks. California coastal markets are the exception to the national story, and San Diego sits somewhere in between rather than at either end.

So the useful move is not to walk in assuming leverage exists. It is to measure the specific listing.

The offer: what you get to keep

In 2021 the way to win was to give things away. Waived inspections, waived appraisal contingencies, accelerated timelines. That is not what it takes right now, and the things you keep are worth more than a few thousand dollars on the price:

• A real inspection contingency instead of an information-only walkthrough
• An appraisal contingency, rather than promising to cover a shortfall in cash
• A closing timeline that matches your lender instead of the seller's calendar

For military buyers arriving on PCS orders, that third one matters more than the first two. A report date does not move, and a market with less competition is the one where you can actually align a closing to it rather than taking whatever date wins the bidding.

After the inspection: repairs that get done

This is the part of the transcript version of this argument that is most true and least discussed. In a market with multiple offers, asking for repairs invites the seller to go back to the second offer. With fewer buyers behind you, the request gets answered.

It matters most for first-time buyers, who typically close with the least cash left over. A seller fixing a failed water heater before closing is worth more to that buyer than the same amount off the price, because the price came out of a loan and the repair would have come out of an empty account.

Closing costs and the rate itself

Redfin counts seller-paid closing costs, seller-paid repairs, and rate buydowns as concessions, and reports them separately from price reductions. Nationally, 44.7% of August sales included one. Another 15.8% included both a concession and a price cut, the highest August share on record.

Veterans using a VA loan should know that a seller can pay ordinary closing costs on their behalf, and this is exactly the market where that ask gets accepted rather than laughed off.

One honest caveat on all of it. The average home nationally still sold for 98.5% of list price in August. This is not a market where lowball offers work. The room is in the terms, not in a number twenty percent under asking.

What changes when the pool refills

None of this is permanent. Every buyer currently sitting out is waiting for the same signal, which means they will come back at roughly the same time and compete with each other for the same houses. What disappears first in that scenario is not the price. It is the repair request, the closing cost credit, and the contingency you were allowed to keep.

Rates themselves are their own conversation, and there is a full breakdown of where today's rate actually sits historically on the blog. The point here is narrower. The terms available to a buyer today are a function of how many other buyers are standing next to them, and that number is lower right now than it has been in years.

Ask Your Agent This

Two questions, word for word, on any home you are serious about:

• "What is the cumulative days on market from the original list date, including any relisting?"
• "What have comparable homes in this zip code actually closed at relative to list, and did any include concessions?"

The first tells you how motivated this seller is. The second tells you whether the neighborhood you are shopping is the 49-day version or the 25-day version.

If you want a read on what is negotiable in a specific price range and zip code rather than a headline about the market overall, reach out and we can look at what has actually been closing. You can also call me at (619) 485-8293.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can buyers negotiate in a buyer's market?

Closing cost credits, repairs, rate buydowns, longer timelines, and the contingencies that protect you. Price is usually the least flexible item, since sellers resist reductions that reset their comparable sales while accepting concessions that do not.

How far below asking should I offer?

Less far than people assume. The national average sale closed at 98.5% of list price in August. A better use of the same negotiation is asking for money toward closing costs, which frequently costs the seller the same and reaches you sooner.

Is San Diego actually a buyer's market right now?

Partly, and unevenly. County-level numbers look meaningfully softer than a year ago, while individual zip codes with thin inventory are still moving in under four weeks. Treat any countywide label with suspicion and look at the zip code you are actually shopping.

Should I wait for more buyers to leave the market?

Timing the bottom of buyer competition is the same problem as timing the bottom of prices, which nobody does reliably. The more useful question is whether the terms available on a specific house today work for your situation.

Market data cited reflects published reporting as of late September 2026 and changes weekly. Conditions vary considerably by price point, property type, and zip code. This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. All real estate services comply with NAR, HUD, and California DRE regulations.