Buyers are hearing a lot of good news lately, and some of it is true.
More homes are sitting on the market longer. More sellers are cutting prices. In many places, buyers can ask for repairs, closing cost help, or time to make a decision, and sellers are actually listening. After the past few years, that feels like a win.
Then the mortgage numbers come in, and the win gets smaller in a hurry.
Realtor.com released its 2026 Q3 Market Clock report on October 19, and the report puts a name to the problem. Nationally, the market clock now sits at 4 o'clock, which Realtor.com describes as a late balanced market trending toward buyers. It moved one hour in that direction since the second quarter.
Over the past 12 months, outright seller's markets across the country shrank from 39 to 27. Buyer's markets grew from 13 to 17. Another 55 markets are in balanced territory, and 49 of those 55 are loosening toward buyers.
That is real movement. It just is not the whole story.
The rate move that ate the savings
Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel points out that mortgage rates rose 74 basis points in just over a month, from 6.66% in late August to 7.40% on October 8.
For a buyer working with a $2,000 monthly budget for principal and interest, that jump wiped out $22,000 in purchasing power.
Read that again, because it explains a lot of what buyers and sellers are feeling right now. A buyer can negotiate harder than a buyer could have negotiated a year ago and still be able to afford less house than that same buyer could have afforded in late August.
Put that $22,000 next to our local median sales price of $420,000. It is about 5.2% of the price of a typical home here. That is not a rounding error. That is a bedroom, a location change, or a long list of homes that suddenly fall outside the budget.
What this looks like here at home
Our latest Canopy MLS numbers line up with the national direction, even if the pace here has its own feel.
Buncombe County has 2,240 homes for sale. Asheville has 1,158, and Black Mountain has 162. The Asheville region has 6.6 months of supply, which means at the current pace of sales it would take about six and a half months to sell everything currently listed. Homes are averaging 71 days on the market.
Sellers are adjusting, too. In the last seven days, 217 sellers across Buncombe County reduced their price. Asheville alone had 113 price reductions, and Black Mountain had 12.
At the same time, 96 homes came on the market in Buncombe County last week and 58 sold. Homes are still selling. Buyers are still buying. The market is not standing still, but buyers have more choices and more time than they had when homes sold in a weekend.
That extra time is the leverage in the headline. Buyers can compare homes, watch for price reductions, and ask for terms that help a deal work. What leverage cannot do on its own is lower the monthly payment on a loan at 7.40%.
For buyers: use the leverage where it counts
A small price cut feels good in a headline. A lower monthly payment is what has to fit the budget on the first of every month.
That is why the best use of negotiating room right now may not always be the lowest possible price. For some buyers, a seller credit toward a rate buydown, help with closing costs, or money left in savings for repairs after closing will matter more than a modest cut that barely moves the payment.
A few practical steps help:
Get the payment updated. A pre-approval from late August may have been built on very different rates. Before falling in love with a home, make sure the payment still works at current numbers, with taxes and insurance included.
Watch the homes that have been sitting. A home at 71 days on the market, or one that has already had a price reduction, is often a home where the seller is ready to talk about more than price.
Ask for what solves the actual problem. If the payment is the problem, ask about a buydown. If cash to close is the problem, ask about closing costs. If a repair is the problem, name the repair. A clear request tied to a real cost is easier for a seller to accept than a lower offer with no explanation.
Do not spend the leverage twice. Buyers have more room than they used to, but a long list of demands on top of a low price can still end a negotiation. Pick the terms that matter most and keep the rest reasonable.
For sellers: a concession is not a defeat
Sellers are seeing the other side of this market. The home is priced fairly, the photos look good, showings are happening, and then the conversation turns to price cuts and credits.
That can sting, especially for a seller who watched neighbors sell quickly a few years ago with none of this back and forth.
Think about it from the buyer's chair for a moment. That buyer may like the home and may even agree the price is fair. The obstacle may be a payment that jumped when rates moved. A credit that helps bring that payment down can keep a good buyer in the deal, and it can cost less than another month on the market followed by a larger price reduction.
Pricing still matters most. The 217 price reductions in Buncombe County last week tell us buyers are waiting for sellers to meet the market. A home that starts close to where buyers see the value has a better chance of getting serious attention early, while the listing is fresh.
Presentation matters, too. When buyers have 2,240 county listings to sort through, the home that looks cared for and ready to move into stands out without much effort from the buyer. That is becoming harder to skip.
The bottom line
Both things are true at the same time. Buyers have more negotiating room than they have had in years, and higher rates have taken back a large part of what that room is worth.
The buyers who do well in a market like this one tend to focus less on winning a headline number and more on the payment, the total cash needed to close, and whether the home still fits a year from now. The sellers who do well tend to price for the market in front of them and stay open to terms that help a qualified buyer say yes.
If a move is on the table, buying or selling, we are happy to run the local numbers for a specific home, street, or price range and talk through what the options really look like. That kind of clear math is a big part of guiding people home.
