Current Issue
Buyers paid a median of 3% below the last listing price for properties in August. While that amounts to $6,525 in savings for homebuyers, it’s less than the median 3.3% — $7,018 — buyers paid below asking price in July, according to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Report.
Sellers are continuing to cut prices on unsold homes. Sellers of nearly 25% of all properties listed on Zillow.com reduced their asking price at least once, with a median reduction of 6.6% off the original listing price.
Buyers paid the most off listing price in the Vero Beach, Fla. metropolitan statistical area (MSA) with a median 8.9% — $20,974 — off the last listing price. Buyers in the Naples, Fla. MSA paid 8% less than list price.
But in two California markets, the El Centro and Stockton MSAs, buyers paid a median 2.2% ($2,479) and 1.3% ($2,515) respectively above listing price.
“Tighter supply in some markets is translating into less of a discount off listing price,” said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. “Unfortunately, the brisk spring and summer home shopping season is drawing to a close now, and with foreclosures on the rise again, inventory levels will likely head back up in the coming months, leading buyers’ negotiating power to regain the ground it lost in August.”
John Burns Real Estate Consulting also indicated Wednesday the volume of inventory in the foreclosure pipeline “will certainly drive home prices down even further when they are sold.”
Write to Austin Kilgore.
