The Quick Read: As of September 28, 2026, buyers hold more leverage than they have in years. NAR’s August report showed supply at 4.9 months, the highest in more than ten years. Sellers are handing out concessions at a record pace for the month, and some are throwing in appliances. The catch is that mortgage rates rose four weeks in a row, so the extras only help if the monthly cost still works.
Key Takeaways
- Supply is up. NAR put August inventory at 1.62 million homes and supply at 4.9 months.
- Leverage shows up as concessions more than headline price cuts. Redfin found concessions in 44.7% of August sales.
- Appliances are on the table, but the evidence is thin. I found one secondary report, and it gives no frequency.
- Mortgage rates rose for a fourth straight week. A good concession can be swallowed by a worse rate.
- Decide what you want most before you ask. Every extra has a price, even when nobody writes it down.
What changed
Inventory and months of supply are at their highest in a while. NAR’s August existing-home sales report, released September 10, 2026, put inventory at 1.62 million units. That is up 3.2% from July and 5.9% from August 2025. It is the first reading above 1.6 million since November 2019.
Supply stood at 4.9 months. July was 4.6. NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said 4.9 months is the highest in over ten years and gives buyers better opportunities to negotiate. Sales ran at an annual pace of 3.98 million, down 2.0% from July and 1.2% from a year earlier.
Not a record, to be clear. It is the highest in over a decade, measured in months. Inventory is the highest since late 2019. Those are different claims from “an all-time high,” and I’d keep them apart.
Builders are cutting and stacking. The Census Bureau and HUD reported on September 24, 2026 that new-home sales ran at 684,000 annualized in August. Census flags the gain over July as within the margin of error. Inventory was 483,000 homes, or 8.5 months of supply.
Inman’s September 25 report on the builder survey adds the behavior. In September, 38% of builders cut prices, up from 35% in August. And 66% used incentives, up from 63%, the highest share since December. The average cut held at 6% for a sixth straight month.
Sellers are conceding. Redfin found sellers gave concessions in 44.7% of U.S. August sales, up from 42.6% a year earlier and the highest for that month since at least 2020, per Inman’s September 18 piece. Inman says concessions can include closing-cost money, repairs or rate buydowns.
Now the part this column is named for. Fortune’s September 26 summary of the Redfin report says sellers are also offering household appliances. That is the only direct evidence of personal property I found. Fortune gives no frequency, and I haven’t seen the underlying report. Treat “extras” as a real but thinly measured part of the trend.
Fortune also says sellers outnumbered buyers by 58% in August, the largest gap in Redfin’s records.
And rates moved against buyers. Freddie Mac’s survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.03% for the week of September 24, 2026, up from 6.95% the week before. That is the fourth straight weekly increase. The survey read 6.66% in the week before September 3, so the four-week climb is 37 basis points. A year earlier it averaged 6.30%.
The Fed added pressure. The Federal Reserve’s implementation note for its September 16 decision confirms a move to a target range of 3.75% to 4%. The committee voted 12-0 for the 25 basis point hike.
One caution on which rate to watch. Freddie’s survey covers conforming conventional loans. Mortgage News Daily’s index, a daily measure, closed near 7.43% on September 25, per its page. Different methods, different borrower profiles. Not a contradiction.
What does this mean for home buyers?
Buyers can ask for more than a lower price, and that is where the leverage is showing up. Headline prices haven’t collapsed. NAR’s median existing-home price was $429,100 in August, up 1.6% from a year earlier. Redfin data, via a syndicated report dated September 26, shows 19.5% of homes had price drops in August and the average home sold for 98.5% of list price. That is a soft market, not a falling one.
So leverage arrives as concessions. Realty Wire made the same point on September 10: bargaining power is shifting faster than price data suggests. A seller who will not move the price may still move on closing-cost help, repairs, a rate buydown, or the washer and dryer.
Why would a seller give you the extras? Motives are simple. A seller who has to move wants the deal to close. Personal property is cheap for them to part with, and they may not want to haul it. A price cut resets the comparable sales on their street. A concession doesn’t show up in the recorded price. I’d expect that to be part of why concessions beat cuts.
That is my read, not a finding. No dataset I found measures how often appliances or furniture change hands, or what they are worth.
The tension is the monthly cost. This is the trap. A buyer can win a concession and still face a higher monthly cost if rates keep rising. WRE News made that point on September 17, citing Redfin’s pending-sales data, which showed pendings down 3.5% week over week in the four weeks ending September 13, the lowest in nearly three years.
Run a plain hypothetical. If a rate moves from 6.75% to 7.75%, the gap is a full point. On a typical-size loan that gap can outweigh what a few appliances are worth. The extras are a one-time gain. The rate is paid every month for as long as you hold the loan.
So don’t let a stack of extras distract you from the financing. It is the larger number.
Which extras are worth asking for?
Ask first for what lowers your cost or your risk, then for what saves you a purchase. Here is how I’d rank the usual asks, from a buyer’s side. Nothing here is a number. It is a way to think about trade-offs.
| Ask | What it does | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Closing-cost help | Cuts cash at the table | May be limited by loan rules |
| Rate buydown | Lowers cost over time | Ask how it is structured |
| Repairs or credits | Reduces near-term risk | Get it in writing |
| Appliances | Saves a purchase | Condition and age |
| Furniture | Convenience only | Low resale value to you |
Two notes on that table. First, closing-cost help and rate buydowns interact with the loan itself, and lenders set limits on how much a seller can contribute. I did not research those limits for this column, so I won’t describe them. Your loan officer or broker can tell you what applies to your file.
Second, appliances and furniture are the weakest asks in dollar terms, and the easiest for a seller to say yes to. That is exactly why they work as a tiebreaker. When two sides are a few thousand apart, a washer and dryer can close the gap without anyone losing face.
Get it in writing. Anything you want to keep belongs in the purchase contract, itemized. Verbal promises at a showing don’t survive the walk-through. Describe the item, say it conveys, and confirm it at the final walk-through. Your agent or attorney will know the local form. Conveyance rules differ by state, and a fixture dispute is a miserable way to start a mortgage.
New construction is a different game. Builders are not selling their own furniture. They are offering price cuts, rate buydowns and upgrades. HousingWire reported on September 24 that builders are adjusting prices, buying down mortgage rates, redesigning product and moving to lower price points. The median new-home price was $393,700, down 5.8% from a year earlier. Census called the August sales gain not statistically significant, so don’t call it a rebound.
If you’re shopping new construction, the incentive is often tied to the builder’s preferred financing. Ask what you give up. Compare the full package against a plain offer with a lower price.
Where I think this goes
My read: the extras are a symptom, not the story. The story is that sellers with homes they can’t move are finding ways to cut the real price without cutting the recorded price. A concession is a discount that doesn’t reset the comps. A buyer who understands that can negotiate the thing that costs the seller least and helps the buyer most.
Here is the part I’m less sure of. The supply gains are real, but sales are only slightly off last year. NAR shows sales up 1.6% year to date. Redfin shows weekly pendings at a near three-year low. Those are different time frames and different datasets, and they point in different directions. This is a genuine toss-up on whether leverage builds into the fall or fades.
The rate picture is the swing factor. The 10-year Treasury yield finished September 25 at 5.17%, and WRE News reported an intraday high of 5.27% on September 28. Verify the exact close against Treasury or FRED before you lean on it. The Fed’s own July minutes said markets were fully pricing a September hike, and Advisor Perspectives says markets price in one more this year. If bond yields keep climbing, rates keep climbing, and the leverage buyers have gets priced away.
Let me put a fine point on it. A buyer’s market in negotiation and a bad market in affordability can exist at once. That is what September looks like.
One more thing about investors. Buyers who plan to rent the place out face the same leverage, with a different test. A rental has to carry itself, and concessions that help cash-to-close help the deal. HousingWire reported on September 12, citing Optimal Blue, that investor and DSCR loans were 35% of non-QM production in August 2026, up from 28% a year earlier. A DSCR loan is reviewed mostly on the property’s rent rather than the buyer’s paycheck. If you’re curious how that works, read my piece on “Renters Can Be Real Estate Investors”. The same analyst reports show analysts split on the risks in this corner of the market, so read the guidelines closely.
What I’d do now
Decide the order of your asks before you write the offer. Here is how I’d work it.
1. Start with the financing. Get your quotes on the same day, because quotes gathered on different days aren’t comparable. Rates moved 37 basis points in four weeks. A quote from three weeks ago tells you little.
2. Know your ceiling on monthly cost. Then work backward. If a concession doesn’t help you stay under it, it’s a nice-to-have.
3. Ask for the concession that matches your biggest constraint. Short on cash at closing? Ask for closing-cost help. Worried about the rate? Ask about a buydown. Tight on furnishing? Ask for the appliances.
4. Put every extra in the contract. Itemize it. Confirm it at the walk-through.
5. If you like the deal, lock. A rate lock is an agreement that holds a rate for a set period on your loan. With rates rising four weeks running, floating is a bet that the trend reverses. I wouldn’t make that bet with a deal I want.
For the loan itself, the loan options page carries the current guidelines for the programs we arrange, subject to lender guidelines and credit review. That includes the non-QM paths for self-employed buyers and investors. I don’t quote figures in a column, because the page is the source of truth.
If you’re weighing a purchase or a refinance this fall, Lendmire can walk you through how the current programs fit your file.
Next data point to watch: NAR releases September existing-home sales on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. If months of supply holds near 4.9 or climbs, the leverage story continues. If it drops back, the extras get harder to win.
For the end-to-end picture of how these loans work — qualification, structures, and the full process — see Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are appliances and furniture really being included in sales right now?
Some are, but the evidence is thin. Fortune’s September 26 summary of a Redfin report says sellers are offering household appliances. It gives no frequency, and I found no dataset that measures personal property in contracts. Treat it as a realistic ask, not a pattern you can count on.
Is a concession the same as a price cut?
No. A price cut lowers the recorded sale price. A concession leaves the price alone and moves money or items another way, such as closing-cost help, repairs or a rate buydown, per Inman’s September 18 report. Redfin data shows some buyers got both. Concessions may hide the true price in the headline numbers.
Does a buyer’s market mean prices are falling?
Not necessarily, and the data so far doesn’t show a broad decline. NAR’s August median existing-home price was $429,100, up 1.6% from a year earlier. Redfin data, via a September 26 syndicated report, shows the average home sold for 98.5% of list price. Leverage is showing up in concessions and negotiating room more than in headline cuts.
If rates are rising, should I wait for a better deal?
Nobody can say where rates go from here. Freddie Mac’s survey rose four straight weeks through September 24, 2026, and markets expected another Fed hike this year. Waiting can win more concessions, but it can also cost you in financing. Decide on the monthly cost you can live with, then act on a deal that fits it.
Can I negotiate extras on a new-construction home?
Yes, but the extras look different. Builders are cutting prices and using incentives, with 66% using incentives in September per Inman’s September 25 report. Those are mostly price cuts, upgrades and rate buydowns, not furniture. Compare the whole package against a plain offer with a lower price, and ask what the incentive requires of you.
About Lendmire
Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — is a mortgage brokerage whose founder writes this column. DSCR investor programs reach 41 markets, including Washington, D.C.; consumer programs such as bank statement, HELOC and down payment assistance loans are arranged in 16 states; every loan is placed with, and underwritten by, a wholesale lender under that lender’s guidelines. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. NAR existing-home sales report for August
2. Census Bureau and HUD new residential sales
3. Inman on new-home sales and builder incentives, September 25, 2026
4. Inman on seller concessions, September 18, 2026
5. Fortune on Redfin concessions, September 26, 2026
6. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey
7. Fortune’s September 26 summary
This article is part of Lendmire’s Mortgage News series — every loan program’s qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the loan options page.
Related reading: Why A Local Real Estate Broker Matters As Buyers Gain Leverage, September 2026? · September 2026: Buyers Need A Real Estate Agent As Supply Grows, Rates Climb · Listing Your Home For Sale This Fall As Inventory Climbs And Rates Rise
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Compliance and disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage broker and is not a direct lender, depository institution, financial advisor, or tax professional. Content in this article is general market analysis and educational information — not financial, legal, or tax advice for any specific situation. Lendmire does not guarantee loan approval; every transaction is subject to underwriting by the funding lender. Mortgage pricing and loan program guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice and vary by borrower characteristics, property type, and state regulations. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensure verification: NMLS Consumer Access.