The U.S. labor market is showing serious signs of weakness, and that could have major consequences for the housing market. AP News reports that employers cut 23,000 jobs in July, while previous employment figures were revised down by more than 100,000 jobs.
The bigger warning may be what is happening with full-time employment. More than 2 million fewer Americans have full-time jobs compared with 2025, while wage growth has slowed to just 3.2% year-over-year. At the same time, mortgage rates remain elevated, the 30-year mortgage rate is near 6.7%, and mortgage in many markets, and sellers are increasingly being forced to cut prices.
We’re already seeing the impact in housing markets like Nashville, Tennessee. Inventory has surged, sellers are making major price cuts, and some homes have been sitting on the market for well over a year. Nashville now has significantly more sellers than buyers, while newer homes and neighborhoods that experienced heavy construction during the pandemic housing boom are facing growing competition.
This matters for home builders, sellers, and buyers alike. Builders added significant housing supply during the pandemic boom, particularly across Sun Belt markets, while today’s higher mortgage rates and weaker mortgage demand make it much harder to support those elevated prices. The same broader housing slowdown is important to watch when evaluating major home builders such as Lennar and D.R. Horton and the direction of new construction.
For serious home buyers, however, this shift is creating opportunity. In this video, I break down how to identify motivated sellers using true days on market, repeated price cuts, local housing inventory, and Reventure’s home price forecasts.
In this video:
-U.S. employment and full-time jobs decline
-Mortgage rates and mortgage applications fall
-Home buyer demand remains near historic lows
-Nashville housing inventory and seller price cuts
-Home builders, new construction, and housing supply
-How buyers can identify motivated sellers in 2026