US home price growth cools to 1.7% and buyers have more bargaining power. What a seller credit or a lower price does to the cash you need
US home prices rose 1.7% and Cotality sees more buyer bargaining power. What USD 6,800 off, as a credit or a lower price, does to your cash at closing.
US single-family home prices rose 1.7% in the year to September, and Cotality says more inventory and greater buyer bargaining power should keep growth subdued, "improving affordability" (Cotality, 3 November 2026).
It expects annual growth to slow to 0.9%.
Where buyers are gaining ground
Prices slipped 0.3% from August, a month when they'd normally rise about 0.2% (Cotality). The picture is split by region. Illinois is up 6.9% on the year, while Texas is down 0.4% and Washington state 1.0%, with Austin down 2.0% and Dallas 1.0%.
Redfin's data points the same way. In the four weeks to 25 October the average home sold for 98.3% of its list price, with 4.5 months of supply (Redfin, 29 October 2026). Sellers outnumber buyers by 63%, the widest gap in records back to 2013 (Redfin, 27 October 2026), and they gave concessions in 44.7% of sales in the three months to August (Redfin data, September 2026). Freddie Mac's 30-year rate has eased too, to 7.24% on 29 October from 7.32% a week earlier.
On a USD 400,000 list price, 98.3% is about USD 6,800 off. That can come as a lower price or as a credit at closing, and the two do different things.
What USD 6,800 does to the cash you need
The free Total Purchase Costs calculator takes the price, state, Cash Deposit and any Seller Concession, then adds starting estimates for title insurance, escrow, appraisal, inspection, recording and loan fees. You can edit every line to match your quotes.
Here's an illustrative Texas purchase with USD 80,000 down. Texas has no state transfer tax, so no tax line appears.
| USD | Full price | Seller credit | Lower price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 400,000 | 400,000 | 393,200 |
| Loan | 320,000 | 320,000 | 313,200 |
| Total cost to buy | 13,560 | 6,760 | 13,383 |
| Cash required at completion | 93,560 | 86,760 | 93,383 |
The credit leaves USD 6,623 more in your account on closing day. The lower price leaves you USD 6,800 less to borrow, and the free Mortgage Payment calculator shows that side.
There's a ceiling on credits. For a home you'll live in with a loan of 75.01% to 90% of the value, Fannie Mae caps them at 6% of the price, USD 24,000 here, and they can't exceed your closing costs (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-02).
Where a lower price counts twice
Cotality lists Washington DC among the fastest-cooling metros. In the District itself, deed recordation tax is 1.1% below USD 400,000 and 1.45% of the whole price from USD 400,000 (DC Office of Tax and Revenue, read 4 November 2026).
Total Purchase Costs treats that as the buyer's tax. At USD 400,000 it shows USD 5,800, and at USD 393,200 it shows USD 4,325, so the USD 6,800 off takes another USD 1,475 away. Cash at completion falls from USD 99,360 to USD 97,708.
A credit keeps the price at USD 400,000 and the tax at USD 5,800, though cash needed drops further, to USD 92,560. The calculator shows the seller's deed transfer tax falling by the same USD 1,475 with a lower price, which is worth knowing in a negotiation.
For your own tax position, speak to a qualified US tax adviser.
Run your own numbers in Stresst
Every worked figure above came out of the Stresst app, and you can run your own in a couple of minutes.
Total Purchase Costs, Mortgage Payment and the Refinance Calculator are free. Premium adds Closing Costs & Transfer Tax, the Mortgage Points Calculator (which shows a seller credit put toward points) and the Debt-to-Income Ratio, plus PDF export on every calculator, and starts with a 7-day free trial.
Redfin puts peak discounts in early November for Milwaukee, Riverside and Tampa and in mid-December for Detroit and South Florida, so these are good weeks to have your numbers ready. On iPhone, Stresst is in beta through Apple's TestFlight app.
Download Stresst free on Google Play
Join the Stresst iPhone beta on TestFlight
Know your numbers before you commit.
Sources
- Cotality, "US home price insights, November 2026", 3 November 2026. https://www.cotality.com/insights/articles/us-home-price-insights-november-2026
- Cotality, "Home Price Growth Expected to Remain Constrained Through End of 2026", Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, 3 November 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/cotality-home-price-growth-expected-130000078.html
- Redfin, "U.S. Home-Sale Prices Just Fell for the First Time in 3 Years", PR Newswire, 29 October 2026. https://finviz.com/news/411374/us-home-sale-prices-just-fell-for-the-first-time-in-3-years
- Redfin, "Holiday Season Is the Best Time for Homebuyers to Score a Deal in These 7 U.S. Metros", PR Newswire, 27 October 2026. https://finviz.com/news/408653/holiday-season-is-the-best-time-for-homebuyers-to-score-a-deal-in-these-7-us-metros
- Mortgage Professional America, "Seller concessions reach new peak in a deepening buyer's market", citing Redfin, September 2026. https://www.mpamag.com/us/mortgage-industry/market-updates/seller-concessions-reach-new-peak-in-a-deepening-buyers-market/590330
- Freddie Mac, "Primary Mortgage Market Survey", 29 October 2026. https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
- Fannie Mae, "Selling Guide B3-4.1-02, Interested Party Contributions", 7 May 2025. https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/sel/b3-4.1-02/interested-party-contributions-ipcs
- DC Office of Tax and Revenue, "Recorder of Deeds FAQs", read 4 November 2026. https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/page/rod-faqs
- Texas Constitution, Article VIII, Section 29, Texas Legal Guide, read 4 November 2026. https://texaslegalguide.com/Texas_Constitution:Article_VIII,_Section_29
This article is general information only and is not financial, tax or legal advice.