buyer's market

noun

|Updated on: 4 May 2018

Definition of buyer's market

: a market in which goods are plentiful, buyers have a wide range of choice, and prices tend to be low — compare seller's market

See buyer's market defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of buyer's market from the Web

Offering lower than asking price is standard practice in a buyer's market with lots of available inventory.

— randy tucker, Cincinnati.com, "Five tips for success in Cincinnati's hot housing market," 24 Apr. 2018
With the median home sales price surpassing $300,000 in a tight sellers ' market, high-end homes are the only ones in a buyer's market, Coman said.

— john sowell, idahostatesman, "The castle on Warm Springs did not sell. Then The New York Times wrote about it. | Idaho Statesman," 19 Apr. 2017
This year is more of a buyer's market, especially after the New York Rangers made available high-profile players such as forward Rick Nash and defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

— helene st. james, Detroit Free Press, "Can Detroit Red Wings find right deals, price at NHL trade deadline?," 25 Feb. 2018
The remaining top buyer's markets are the metro areas of New York-Newark, Miami, San Antonio, Birmingham, Ala., and Houston.

— paul davidson, USA TODAY, "Real estate market exclusive: Here are top cities to buy and sell homes," 12 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'buyer's market.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of buyer's market

1888

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Financial Definition of BUYER'S MARKET

buyer's market

noun

What It Is

A buyer's market exists when there are more sellers than buyers in the market for a certain good or service.

How It Works

Housing is a common place to find a buyer's market. Let's say that ABC Town has 100,000 homes and that 3,000 of those homes are for sale. A big manufacturing plant in ABC Town is closing, leaving thousands of people out of jobs. These people want to sell their houses and move to another town with better jobs, and so they put their houses on the market, bringing the number of houses for sale up to 5,000.

Very few people are moving to ABC Town right now (due to its lack of jobs), and the people who already live in ABC Town are not really in a position to buy a new home and move, given the shaky job market there. Accordingly, the few people who are interested in buying a home in ABC Town right now have the upper hand. There are more sellers than buyers, making ABC Town a buyer's market.

Why It Matters

In a buyer's market, a buyer often can acquire goods and services at a lower cost. In our example, a buyer's market means that a lot of sellers are competing for customers, and they are therefore more likely to accept less money for their homes. This can translate into big savings for buyers, who might also be able to dictate other terms of the deal (such as who pays the closing costs).

Source: Investing Answers