Home sellers slashed asking prices at the fastest pace in nearly four years in September, as soaring mortgage rates choked buyer demand.
Price Reductions Surge Nationwide
The share of listings with a price cut rose to 20.8% in September, the highest September reading since 2018 and the biggest monthly increase since October 2022.
Borrowing costs jumped sharply, with the 30‑year fixed mortgage rate climbing from 6.66% in late August to 7.03% by the week ended September 24, compared with 6.30% a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac.
Each half‑percentage‑point rise in rates trims a buyer’s purchasing power by roughly $30,000, squeezing affordability for those on a $2,000 monthly principal‑and‑interest budget, Realtor.com estimates.
“Demand rarely picks up much this time of year, but the rate environment and geopolitical uncertainty forced the market’s fall to stall early this year,” senior economist Jake Krimmel said.
Stagnation Signals
Pending sales fell 4.1% year‑over‑year in September after a modest 0.2% dip in August, and dropped 6.2% from the prior month, the report showed.
Active listings climbed 5.4% annually to about 1.16 million, the fastest yearly gain in six months, while inventory remains 9.1% below pre‑pandemic levels but is narrowing.
The national median listing price slipped 1.4% to $419,250, and the median price per square foot fell 1.7%, reflecting growing pressure on sellers.
Price cuts were most pronounced in the West, where 22.8% of listings were reduced, a 1.8‑percentage‑point rise from a year earlier, the largest regional increase.
Discounted listings also dominated the South at 21.6%, followed by the Midwest at 20.7% and the Northeast at 15.2%, the tightest market.
At the metro level, Salt Lake City saw 33% of listings cut, Denver 31.5%, and Portland 31.3%, while only 9.9% of New York metro listings experienced price reductions.
Realtor.com warns that deeper price cuts may be needed to revive buyer activity as borrowing costs stay high.
“Pending sales have been falling for months while inventory rises, a clear sign of stagnation that will merit close watching in October,” Krimmel added.
