The share of price-reduced homes rose for the sixth straight month in August, according to a monthly review of 26 major markets conducted by national online brokerage ZipRealty.
Sellers cut asking prices on 3.26 percent more homes in August than the month before — a total of 316,561 homes. At the same time, newly listed homes rose less than 1 percent, raising total for-sale inventory to 671,874 homes. The total share of for-sale homes experiencing at least one price cut was therefore 47 percent.
The average seller had discounted his or her home twice since its listing. The median amount by which sellers discounted their homes also rose in August: 0.76 percent from July, to $19,092. That’s 7.6 percent of the median list price of $249,631, which itself fell 2.1 percent in August.
"It appears that homebuyers are taking their time as they don’t feel a sense of urgency to make an offer, unless the price is right, and sellers are having to aggressively cut their prices to stay competitive in this market," said Leslie Tyler, vice president of marketing for ZipRealty, in a statement.
"We typically find if a buyer hasn’t walked through the door in 30 to 45 days, a seller needs to lower their asking price. If a home hasn’t had an offer in six months, it’s time to rethink the sale."
Seven major markets had experienced price cuts in more than half of their listings: Austin, Texas; Chicago; Jacksonville, Fla.; Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minn.; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Tucson, Ariz.
Two Texas cities, Houston and Dallas, experienced the smallest price reductions in absolute dollars — a median of $10,000 in each. California dominated the list of markets with the highest discounts: San Francisco and Orange County at $35,000 each.
Markets with the highest share of discounted listings (of 26 markets surveyed):
1. Jacksonville, Fla. (55 percent)
2. Phoenix, Ariz. (54.4 percent)
3. Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minn. (52.4 percent)
4. Orlando, Fla. (51.7 percent)
5. Tucson, Ariz. (51.6 percent)
6. Chicago (51.1 percent)
7. Austin, Texas (50.9 percent)
Markets with the lowest share of discounted listings (of 26 markets surveyed):
1. Denver, Colo. (33.2 percent)
2. Los Angeles (41.4 percent)
3. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach, Fla. (42.3 percent)
4. Richmond, Va. (42. 7 percent)
5. San Francisco (43. 3 percent)
6. Charlotte, N.C. (44.6 percent)
7. Houston, Texas (45.7 percent)
Source: ZipRealty
