Patient homebuyers are being rewarded with improved affordability amid the most active fall season since 2022, according to a Zillow analysis.
These deeper discounts reflect a housing market slowly finding balance, the report said. Affordability has improved to a three-year best, helping fuel heightened buyer activity this season. Easing prices are being driven by properties taking longer to sell, prompting more sellers to offer reductions and sometimes multiple discounts, as listings linger on the market.
The typical U.S. listing experienced cumulative price cuts of around $25,000, matching the largest discounts Zillow has ever recorded. Individual reductions remain near $10,000, but multiple cuts are increasingly common as sellers adjust to buyer demand. Most sellers have sufficient equity to lower prices while still achieving a profit, giving buyers greater negotiating power in slower-moving markets.
High-cost metro markets are seeing the largest dollar markdowns, with San Jose (-$70,900), San Francisco (-$59,001), Los Angeles (-$61,000), New York (-$50,000) and San Diego (-$50,000) leading the way. These expensive metros also show sizable individual price cuts, often $25,000–$49,000, reflecting slower sales and multiple reductions.
In contrast, in mid-tier markets, smaller dollar cuts can represent larger relative discounts. Pittsburgh’s typical $20,000 markdown equals about 9% of the metro’s typical home value, the largest relative discount among major markets. New Orleans homes are also discounted by roughly 9%, with buyers in Austin (8.4%), Houston (8.2%) and San Antonio (7.9%) seeing strong relative savings.
On the other hand, sellers in other metros haven’t had to budge much. Oklahoma City (-$15,000), Louisville (-$15,000), St. Louis (-$15,100), Indianapolis (-$16,000), and Detroit (-$17,100) recorded the smallest cumulative discounts in October. In most of these areas, homes are selling faster than the national average, and listings tend to be newer, indicating steady demand and sellers who don’t need to reduce prices deeply to attract buyers.
Other notable metros with moderate to high discounts include Seattle (-$41,000), Boston (-$49,900) and Austin (-$36,000), while Sun Belt markets such as Dallas, Tampa, Phoenix and Charlotte show moderate cumulative reductions (-$24,000 to -$25,000) but a high share of listings with at least one price cut, signaling steady buyer leverage. Across the country, roughly 25–38% of listings in many slower-moving or higher-priced markets have undergone at least one price reduction, highlighting opportunities for patient buyers to negotiate.
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