Price Cuts Dip Modestly in July

Price cuts remain a hallmark of this summer’s housing market, even as median list prices hold relatively steady. In July, 20.6% of home listings saw reductions — up 1.1 percentage points from a year ago, but slightly lower than June’s 20.7%. This is the first national decline in price cuts in six months.

The trend varies sharply by region. Cuts were most prevalent in the South and West, where 23% of listings dropped their asking price, compared with just 12.7% in the Northeast. Markets with the highest share of reductions, often reflecting softer demand, included Denver (32.9%), Portland (31.3%), and Austin (31.2%).

Delistings Surge

Sellers continued to pull listings from the market because they couldn’t find buyers at the desired price. Delistings in June (reported with a one-month lag) rose 48% year-over-year and 38% year-to-date. The delisting-to-new listing ratio climbed to 0.21 in June, up from 0.13 in May—meaning that for every 100 new listings, 21 were removed without a sale. The metropolitan regions with the highest delisting ratios in June were Miami (59 per 100 new listings), Phoenix (37), and Riverside (30).