If inventory can continue to improve, homebuyers could see more sellers slash home prices
Feb. 5, 2025
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Home price reductions could become more regular if inventory continues to improve.
As housing inventory grows and buyer demand slows, more sellers are lowering their asking prices. For the week ending Feb. 3, price reductions increased slightly—by 10 basis points—to 33.1% of listed homes, up from 33% the previous week, according to the Altos Research blog. Although the change is small, it's not insignificant. This is because January is not typically a time when the housing market sees price cuts. Historically, this week sees price reductions decreasing, making this the first January uptick in more than a decade.
The median price for home sales contracts entered this week was at $389,700. That’s up a percent for the week and is 2.5% more expensive than home sales in the same week a year ago. 2.5% annual gains for the homes taking offers right now. In the scale of housing. 2.5% is basically zero. Just barely positive. While there are plenty of markets that have home price gains from a year ago, there are also a lot of markets where home prices are declining.Read more