Business
Home sellers step back, despite three-year high in affordability
Seasonal cooling is finally seeping into the housing market after an unseasonably active fall, according to the latest market report1 from Zillow®. Price cuts from sellers dropped back to normal levels from near-record highs; a rare instance of buyers losing a bit of leverage in a year when many housing trends moved in their favor.
About this update from Zillow Group, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Buyers gained options, leverage and ground on affordability in 2025","length":67,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}},{"type":"list","items":[{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Sellers hunkered down — new listings declined 30% from October to November to return to seasonal averages.","length":106,"tagName":"p"}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Price cuts fell from near-record highs to seasonal norms.","length":57,"tagName":"p"}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Mortgage payments as a share of median household income fell to 32.6%, the lowest since 2022.","length":93,"tagName":"p"}]}],"tagName":"ul","bulletedList":true,"length":256,"olType":false},{"type":"text","content":"SEATTLE, Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Seasonal cooling is finally seeping into the housing market after an unseasonably active fall, according to the latest market report1 from Zillow®. Price cuts from sellers dropped back to normal levels from near-record highs; a rare instance of buyers losing a bit of leverage in a year when many housing trends moved in their favor.","length":382,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"image","alt":"Zillow logo (PRNewsfoto/Zillow Group)","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"Zillow logo (PRNewsfoto/Zillow Group)","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":400,"height":84,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/28b6128b4340bef9d2e4b38d1115ff50"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/O.WUdUPdtFvi097b4WqGCQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTE0ODtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/28b6128b4340bef9d2e4b38d1115ff50","width":400,"height":84}},"href":"https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/844956/Zillow_v2_Logo.html","hrefExternal":true,"rel":"nofollow"},{"type":"text","content":""Affordability is still a hurdle for home buyers, but 2025 brought real progress," said Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng. "Mortgage payments dropped by more than $100 a month, while incomes continued to rise. For many households, that small shift can be the difference between sitting out the market and finally being able to buy or sell a home. While sellers and buyers alike pulled back in November, reminding us that seasonality still matters, we expect the market to warm up a bit next spring."","length":517,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Seasonality strikes, cooling lis...