Sellers cutting prices

More than one-third of U.S. home sellers cut their asking price in February, the highest share for that month since Redfin began tracking the data in 2012. (redfin.com) Redfin said 34.2% of February sellers lowered their list price, up from 31.5% a year earlier. Sellers who made a cut reduced prices by an average of $40,915, or 7.3%. (redfin.com) Among all February sellers, including those who never changed the asking price, the average reduction was $13,463, or 2.4%, which Redfin said was the highest February share on record. Texas and Florida had the biggest concentration of cuts, while Bay Area sellers were the least likely to trim prices. (redfin.com) The price cuts landed in a market with 629,808 more sellers than buyers in February, a 46.3% gap that Redfin said was the largest in records going back to 2013. By Redfin’s measure, the national market has favored buyers since May 2024. (redfin.com) Listings are also sitting longer. Redfin said 52.2% of February listings had been on the market at least 60 days without going under contract, up from 50.1% a year earlier and the highest February share since 2019. (redfin.com) Sales have not collapsed, but they remain slow by recent standards. The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales rose 1.7% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in February, while sales were still down 1.4% from a year earlier. (nar.realtor) Buyers are still dealing with financing costs near 6%. Freddie Mac said the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.37% in the week ending April 9, down from 6.46% a week earlier and 6.62% a year earlier. (freddiemac.com) Other housing data show the same split: more homes are available, but demand is uneven. Realtor.com said active listings rose 7.9% from a year earlier in February to 914,860, while the national median list price slipped to $403,450. (realtor.com) Realtor.com’s measure of price cuts was lower than Redfin’s because the firms track different listing pools and methods, but it also showed broad discounting. Realtor.com said 15.5% of February listings had a price reduction, with cuts least common in the Northeast and more common in the South and West. (realtor.com) For sellers heading into the spring market, the message from February was simple: more competition, longer waits, and more pressure to meet buyers on price. (redfin.com)