soft market
1
6.0
- noun
- /sɔft ˈmɑrkɪt/
:
mercado blando
- In a soft market, it’s difficult for sellers to get the price they want for their homes.
Examples
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Now, the property alone is worth five million in a soft market
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Although the duration of a rally may last months or possibly years, a soft market may only exist for a few weeks or less.
Blog text (8) -
The dwindling of oil surpluses and the continued downward pressure on the price of crude oil put them in a difficult position, unleashing the "soft market," which was a prelude to the buyer's market of 1983.
Academic text (1993) -
It would seem to be a no-brainer: A bank with a foreclosed house that is standing empty, and that it cannot or will not sell in a soft market, could donate the property to an organization such as Habitat for Humanity that could repair the structure before handing the keys over to a homeless family.
Blog text (7) -
Many buyers are finding great deals in a soft market where prices are lower than usual.
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The soft market has caused many companies to rethink their pricing strategies.
Synonyms
4
3.7
A time when more things are for sale than people want, so people who buy can get lower prices
A market where more goods are for sale than there are buyers, so buyers can get lower prices
How Soft
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'soft' (meaning weak or likely to decline) applied to 'market' straightforwardly yields the sense of a weak market with low demand and falling prices. This is a regular adjective + noun composition found in many languages and economic contexts, so an average B1 learner who knows both words can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The term soft market comes from a simple image: a market that is soft, like a sponge, where prices easily sink because there are more goods than buyers. So, a soft market means 'more supply than demand' and it is 'easier for buyers' and 'harder for sellers'.