Realtor.com Research just expanded their Market Clock tool to cover the top 100 metropolitan areas across the country, up from 50 last quarter. This gives us a much clearer picture of what's actually happening in housing markets beyond just the biggest names. The national market is sitting at what they call 3 o'clock, which represents a balanced market that's gradually tilting toward buyers.
What's really interesting is that while the national picture looks fairly balanced, there's massive variation happening underneath. Different regions are experiencing completely different market conditions. The South, particularly Florida and areas around the Gulf, is seeing genuine buyer's markets. Meanwhile, the Northeast around New York is tightening up in that direction too. Northern California, including the San Francisco and San Jose areas, is still in seller's territory along with much of the Midwest.
This spring has turned out to be the most buyer-friendly second quarter since Realtor.com started tracking this data back in 2018. About 70 percent of all markets are now either favoring buyers or moving that direction, compared to just 52 percent last year. Actual buyer's markets now account for 19 percent of these top 100 metros, the largest share since the pandemic. What's driving this shift is that sellers have finally started pricing homes more realistically. They're not holding out for the same aggressive asking prices anymore, which has unlocked activity. Pending home sales have been climbing for seven straight months now, making this the most active spring market we've seen in four years.
The clock is positioned from 12 o'clock at peak seller's market down to 6 o'clock at peak buyer's market, with everything in between representing different stages of balance or transition. Most of the metros that have moved around the clock over the past year have shifted toward buyer-friendly territory, even if they're not there yet officially. The really telling detail is that there's basically no momentum heading back toward seller's markets. Only one metro sits at peak seller's, and none are in the early seller's territory. That tells you everything you need to know about the directional pull.
What I am seeing locally here in the Bay Area is that while we're still positioned in late seller's market territory alongside markets like Boston, we're part of a broader conversation that's changing. The fact that the whole national conversation has shifted toward buyer leverage matters for our region's future trajectory, even if we haven't felt that shift as dramatically as Florida or some Midwestern metros have. The movement toward pricing realism that's helping unlock sales nationally is something we're watching carefully here in Fremont and across the East Bay.
