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Inventory is up. Rates are down. Fewer buyers face multiple offer situations.
By several key metrics, the mid-Atlantic region is still a seller’s market. But signs suggest conditions are gradually changing in favor of homebuyers, according to a survey of thousands of Bright MLS members released Wednesday.
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“While it’s not officially a buyer’s market yet, the pendulum is clearly swinging away from the intensely competitive conditions of recent years,” said Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant in a statement. “Buyers are seeing more options and facing fewer obstacles compared to this time last year.”
Homebuyers are starting to gain the upper hand in the region, comprised of Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
For the week ending April 27, new listings were up 12.2 percent in Bright’s 6-state market compared to a year ago. The number of active listings rose 31.8 percent compared to a year earlier, the highest level in more than three years, according to responses from approximately 3,000 BrightMLS members in the first quarter.
Nine percent of active listings had a price decrease, which was up a percentage point from a year before, according to BrightMLS data.
The number of buyers in the first quarter who spent less than a month searching for a home was twice as high as it was a year ago, with 40 percent of homebuyers landing a home in less than 30 days.
Half of all buyers made just one offer, with odds slightly favoring repeat buyers over first-timers.
“The housing market in 2025 feels different — less frenzied and more balanced,” Sturtevant said. “If these trends continue, we could see the most buyer-friendly conditions in years this spring.”
BrightMLS members reported fewer buyers halting their searches as a result of high mortgage rates, the latest indication that consumers have grown accustomed to rates above 6 percent.
BrightMLS agents indicated they were still optimistic that buyer activity would pick up in the months ahead. The Buyer Index Activity was 60.1 in the first quarter, indicating high optimism. That was down slightly from April 2024, when the index was near a record high of 68.1, Bright said.
Meanwhile, the Seller Activity Index was at 47.2 in April, up from 35.4 a year ago.
“Sellers aren’t as aggressive as last year, but they’re also not giving away major concessions,” Sturtevant said. “Closing cost help and repair credits are still less common than buyers might hope for.”
