More homesellers cutting home prices

Nearly half of the for sale homes listed in September included at least one price cut, as sellers tried to accelerate their home sales and get moving sooner.

Real estate brokerage ZipRealty's monthly analysis of multiple listing services in 26 major markets revealed that prices were cut at least once on 47.8 percent of all homes for sale in September, an increase of 10 percent from a year earlier. Additionally, the actual number of price-reduced homes on the market rose at a pace quicker than inventory. The volume of discounted homes rose 2.1 percent from August to September compared to a 0.6 percent rise in overall inventory, said the report.

Many families found that they could postpone their moving plans no longer, with many reducing their prices an average of two times, with a median reduction of $19,165.

"Last spring the tax credit helped to bring buyers into the market, and we didn't see sellers reducing prices by as much," said ZipRealty's vice president of marketing, Leslie Taylor. "But now sellers seem to be cutting prices more aggressively going into the typically slower fall and winter seasons."

Homes in the Miami metro area were discounted by an average 23 percent, the largest percentage nationwide. That may have spurred increased moving activity there, as the Miami Association of Realtors recently reported a 30 percent year-over-year increase in pending home sales for Miami-Dade County.
 

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