Nearly 45% of homes that sold in August went to buyers who received some kind of concession from the seller, Redfin reported on September 18. The company found that 44.7% of August sales included a concession, up from 42.6% a year earlier and the highest August share it has recorded since at least 2020. A further 15.8% of buyers got both a price cut and a concession, up from 15.6% in August 2025.
What happens after the closing table: Redfin’s concession data stops at the sale, and The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit’s application log tracks what a new owner has to file next. Log the first property-tax filing deadline that follows a purchase →
A Bigger Share Of August Closings Than A Year Ago
Redfin’s monthly look at seller concessions found that 44.7% of homes that sold in August included some form of concession from the seller, up from 42.6% in August 2025, according to the company’s September 18 report. Redfin’s data shows the August share is the highest for that month since at least 2020, when its tracking of concessions begins. The one-year increase, roughly two percentage points, is modest next to the swing the housing market has made since the tight seller’s market of 2021 and 2022, but it confirms that the buyer leverage recorded earlier this year carried through the traditionally slower late-summer selling season rather than fading with it.
Getting A Price Cut And A Concession At The Same Time
A separate slice of Redfin’s numbers shows 15.8% of August buyers landed both a price reduction and a concession on the same purchase, up slightly from 15.6% a year earlier, the report says. That double benefit is not the norm; most buyers who get a concession are not also negotiating the list price down. Its small increase suggests sellers in some markets are stacking incentives rather than picking between a lower price and a closing credit. Redfin did not break out which combination of concessions, such as a closing-cost credit, a repair allowance or a temporary rate buydown, made up the August total, so the precise mix behind the 44.7% figure is not published.
What A Dallas Agent Is Seeing At The Table
Amanda Peterson, a Redfin Premier agent in Dallas, described the mood among buyers in the company’s release: “Buyers know they can be picky. They’re asking for every concession under the sun.” Her comment points to a negotiating posture rather than a single tactic. Buyers are now routinely requesting help with closing costs, funds for repairs flagged during inspection or a reduction in the interest rate on their loan, instead of accepting a home as-is at the asking price. For a seller, that shift means budgeting for a concession as a near-default cost of doing the deal rather than an occasional exception.
How A Structured Concession Differs From A Straight Price Cut
A concession and a price cut show up differently on the paperwork even when they reduce a seller’s net take by a similar amount. A price cut lowers the contract sale price itself, the number that becomes part of the public record and feeds future comparable-sale estimates for the neighborhood. A concession, by contrast, typically leaves the recorded sale price intact while the seller credits money back at closing for costs the buyer would otherwise pay, which is why Redfin tracks the two as separate categories rather than folding concessions into its price data. That distinction matters for a seller comparing what a neighbor’s home reportedly sold for against what actually landed in that neighbor’s account once a concession is subtracted. It also matters for a seller estimating capital-gains exposure on a longtime home: the IRS taxes gain on a home sale above a $250,000 exclusion for a single filer or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, calculated from the recorded sale price and the seller’s basis, according to IRS Topic 701, not from the smaller amount a seller nets after covering a buyer’s closing costs or repairs.
The Math A Retiree Selling A Family Home Has To Run
For an older homeowner selling a longtime residence to downsize or move nearer to family, a concession subtracts directly from the cash that reaches the closing table, on top of the sale’s usual costs. A seller who agrees to cover closing costs or a repair bill nets that much less from proceeds that may be earmarked for a smaller home, a retirement account or long-term care, even though the contract price looks unchanged on paper. With nearly half of August’s sales including a concession, sellers now in their 60s, 70s or older who are planning a sale should factor one into their expected proceeds before they set a listing price or count on a specific number to fund the next move. That planning gap widens further for a seller who is also buying a next home in the same stretched market, since a concession given on one side of a move does not offset the cost of a concession that might be needed on the other.
A Buyer’s Market That Held Through Late Summer
Redfin’s own comparison, the highest August concession share since at least 2020, set against a national buyer’s-market backdrop, is the clearest sign the leverage recorded through spring did not fade once the market’s busiest months ended. The company’s September 18 release frames the 44.7% figure, and the accompanying rise in the double-concession rate to 15.8%, as evidence that most U.S. markets remain tilted toward buyers rather than sellers, a dynamic Redfin’s own numbers show held through August instead of reversing as the year’s busiest buying season closed out. Whether that pattern persists into the fall and winter months, when sales activity typically slows further, is not addressed in the September 18 release, which covers August data only.
What Closing Day Concessions Don’t Cover Later
Redfin’s August figures track what happens before a sale closes: how often a seller agrees to a credit, a repair allowance or a rate buydown to get a contract signed. They say nothing about the property-tax bill, the insurance premium or the utility costs a new owner takes on once the deed changes hands, the costs that keep arriving long after a concession has been spent.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit lists the five kinds of property-tax relief available to a new owner and the circuit-breaker credit that also reaches renters.
See the relief options and the circuit-breaker credit in The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit.
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
