Home-price cuts are becoming more common as the housing market gradually shifts toward buyers.
Typical price reductions still hover around $10,000, but repeated cuts are increasingly standard as listings linger.
Some of the nation’s priciest metros show the largest dollar discounts, while lower-cost markets offer the biggest percentage bargains.
Inflated home prices during the pandemic put homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans, but some of those prices are starting to come back to earth.
More home sellers have begun to slash asking prices — sometimes more than once — as affordability challenges reshape buying behavior and force a reset in expectations. According to new data from Zillow, these increasingly common discounts are helping bring long-stalled listings back into buyers’ budgets and fueling what has become the most active fall housing market in three years.
Although the typical individual price cut has remained relatively stable at about $10,000, homes are sitting on the market longer, and sellers are responding with multiple reductions. Many homeowners still stand to make a profit even after trimming their price, thanks to years of substantial home-value appreciation.
Seller flexibility
“Most homeowners have seen their home values soar over the past several years, which gives them the flexibility for a price cut or two while still walking away with a profit,” said Kara Ng, a senior economist at Zillow. “These discounts are bringing more listings in line with buyers' budgets, and helping fuel the most active fall housing market in three years. Patient buyers are reaping the rewards as the market continues to rebalance.”
The growing frequency of markdowns illustrates how quickly conditions are evolving for both buyers and sellers. Many sellers are leaning on agents to help them understand local market dynamics and price their homes appropriately — a service sellers identified as the most valuable in Zillow’s Consumer Housing Trends Report. Buyers, meanwhile, benefit from clearer insight into how much wiggle room exists in list prices.
Where prices are falling most
Some of the steepest reductions appear in the country’s most expensive housing markets. Median cumulative discounts from the original list price include:
San Jose: $70,900
Los Angeles: $61,000
San Francisco: $59,001
New York: $50,000
San Diego: $50,000
These large dollar amounts reflect high baseline home prices, even if the percentage cut isn’t as dramatic.
Where smaller cuts pack more punch
In more affordable metros, smaller reductions translate to much larger savings relative to local home values. Pittsburgh leads the nation in relative discounts: a typical $20,000 price cut equals roughly 9% of the metro’s median home value. New Orleans buyers typically see a similar 9% reduction, followed by Austin (8.4%), Houston (8.2%), and San Antonio (7.9%).