More home listings seeing price reductions in August

Posted on | September 8, 2010 | No Comments

Nearly half of the houses for sale in the U.S. are listed for less than what the seller originally asked for, with the average list price declining 7.1% in 26 U.S. markets, according to a survey released by ZipRealty.

The Emeryville, Calif.-based Internet real estate brokerage said that in August, 47% of houses for sale had a least one listing price reduction since first going on the market, up 3.26% from July’s level. ZipRealty tracks data in 26 major housing markets. On average, home sellers are reducing prices twice to garner enough interest from prospective buyers.

The average price reduction was $19,092, ZipRealty said, adding the national median list price dropped 2.1% to $249,631 in August. Less than 1% of the houses listed for sale were new listings in August, indicating that fewer sellers are entering the post-homebuyer tax credit market, said ZipRealty Vice President Leslie Tyler.

“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,” Tyler said. “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.”

The chart below shows the markets with the largest median price reduction in absolute dollars (click to expand):

The markets with the smallest median reduction in absolute dollars were Dallas and Houston, which each experienced a $10,000 reduction in August.

Jacksonville, Fla., had the highest percentage of price-reduced homes; with 55% house listings having at least one price reduction. Other markets where more than half of sellers reduced asking price include Austin, Texas; Chicago; Minneapolis, Minn.; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.

The Denver market had the lowest rate of price-reduced listings, at 33.2% in August, followed by Los Angeles (41.4%) and the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach market (42.3%)

Florida markets took the top three spots in the rate of price reduction, led by Miami, with a 12.32% reduction, Orlando (11.49%) and Jacksonville (11.24%).

The data is based on real estate listing and price reduction data from the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in 26 of the 35 housing markets where the real estate brokerage operates as of Sept. 1. ZipRealty noted in its report that the research it provides is intended to indicate general market conditions and trends, not the company’s operational performance. As a publicly traded entity, it referred questions on its own performance to its public disclosures with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Category: Market News, Salt Lake Real Estate Market
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