If you're buying a home in North Texas, there's one number most market reports won't show you: how often sellers are paying toward the buyer's costs, and how much.
That's what our monthly Buyer Leverage Report tracks. Every month, Makin' Moves Realty pulls every closed single-family sale across 21 North Texas cities from the NTREIS MLS and records the seller concession sale by sale. Here's what October 2026 closings showed.
What is a seller concession?
A seller concession is money the seller contributes at closing on the buyer's behalf. It usually goes toward closing costs, prepaid items or an interest rate buydown. It doesn't lower the sale price. It lowers the cash a buyer needs to bring to closing, or the rate they lock in.
The big picture: 6 in 10 sales included seller help
Across the 21 cities we track, 60.8% of October closings included a seller concession, the same share as September. Among homes that received one, the median concession was $9,500.
That's 1,289 of the 2,120 sales we analyzed. In this market, asking for seller help is a normal part of the conversation.
The 2026 Buyer Leverage rankings for October closings
Our Buyer Leverage Score (0–100) combines how often sellers paid, how big the concession was relative to price, and the expected dollars. Here's the top of the list:
Princeton (92.9). 84.8% of sales included a concession, median $9,246, about 3% of price.
Anna (87.1). 73.7% of sales, median $10,500.
Aubrey (82.4). 75.4% of sales, median $10,000.
Little Elm (77.6). Median concession of $11,000, the highest share of price in our coverage area (3.2%).
Celina (76.7). 68.0% of sales, median $11,495.
At the other end, Southlake (3.3) and Keller (6.2) had concessions on roughly one in three sales, and they were small relative to price.
The biggest movers from September to October
Pilot Point cooled off. After leading September's rankings, Pilot Point dropped to #8. About three in four sales still included seller help, but the typical concession fell from $11,850 to $6,662. It's a smaller city (21 sales in October), so one month can swing. We'll watch whether this holds.
Grapevine and Argyle moved toward buyers. Grapevine's concession rate climbed from about 36% to 52%. Argyle's climbed from about 45% to 62%. Both cities moved up the rankings: Grapevine from Seller-favored to Balanced, and Argyle into Moderate.
Flower Mound slip
ped to Balanced. More than half of its sales still had a concession, but the help was modest relative to price (a median of 1.3%).
A myth worth busting
"Nobody gets concessions in Frisco." Not quite. Frisco's concession rate was lower than most (41.7%), but when Frisco sellers did contribute, the median was $11,750, higher than in Princeton. Leverage looks different city to city, and that's why we break it down.
What this means if you're buying
Recent closings suggest buyers have been negotiating seller help most often in the newer-construction markets on the northern and eastern edges of the metro. In higher-priced, established markets, that help shows up less often. That doesn't mean you can't ask. It means your strategy should fit the market you're shopping in.
These are recent patterns, not promises. Every home, seller and situation is different. Knowing the numbers helps you go in with realistic expectations and a stronger plan.
Thinking about buying? Tell us about your move with our quick intake form, Your Move, Our Moves, and we'll put together a strategy built around the cities you're considering.
Makin' Moves Realty. Based on closed-sale data from the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems (NTREIS) MLS for October 2026 and the cities listed. Concession figures reflect seller-paid contributions as reported by listing agents at closing. Median concession figures include only transactions with a reported concession; concession rate reflects all closed sales. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Past market conditions do not guarantee future results.
