Dive Brief:

• The housing market — which has heavily favored sellers for several months — could be starting to tilt slightly in buyers' favor, Realtor.com reported Monday.

• Jonathan Smoke, chief economist of Realtor.com, said that typically, both inventory and demand start to slow down during August as school starts. But this year, he has seen inventory keep growing throughout the month — creating more of a balanced market. 

• During the first three weeks of August, listing inventory bumped up 3% over July. The median list price rose to $233,000 — 8% higher than during August of last year, and essentially unchanged since July. 

Dive Insight:

The number of days on the market also rose, reaching a median of 75 days. That increase in time on the market reflects the slight shift away from the seller's market. Realtor.com wrote, "Now, don't get us wrong: Sellers still have the advantage. It's just that their advantage is being reduced."

But most notably, with a continuous infusion of housing inventory, potential buyers struggling to find affordable properties could soon find more options. 

In the same report, Realtor.com listed what it considers the 20 "hottest" housing markets during August after reviewing "listing views by market as an indicator of buyer demand and median days on market as an indicator of supply."

The real estate markets that top the list are: San Francisco; Dallas; Denver; Vallejo, CA; and Santa Rosa, CA. See the full list here.