Look, according to Redfin News, we're seeing more home sellers dropping their prices to reach that record September rate, but here's what's really interesting about it. Even though we're in one of the strongest buyer's markets on record, the increase in price cuts is actually pretty modest. That tells me a lot of sellers aren't even bothering to list right now, and others are pulling their homes off the market rather than accepting a lower price. What's changed is that more sellers are getting smarter about pricing from day one instead of listing high and then scrambling to cut later.
The data shows just over one in five sellers nationally are cutting their asking price during the recent four-week period ending in mid-September. That's the highest we've seen for this time of year since records started in early 2022, but it's only slightly up from a year ago. According to Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan, the sellers who move quickly are the ones pricing accurately from the start, while others are still working off outdated comparables or holding onto unrealistic expectations about bidding wars.
The geographic breakdown is pretty revealing. Cities like Denver and Indianapolis are seeing roughly three in ten sellers cut prices, while Texas markets like San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin are all seeing similar pressure. These are genuinely strong buyer's markets where sellers have to compete hard. On the flip side, San Francisco sits at less than ten percent of sellers cutting prices because it's one of just five strong seller's markets in the country right now, driven largely by AI wealth creating intense buyer competition.
For buyers, this flattening of the price-drop rate actually means the bargaining power is just showing up differently. Instead of negotiating down after listing, you're seeing the real prices baked in from the start. Buyers should still look at homes sitting on the market for more than a month and consider offering below asking price. And according to Redfin, nearly half of homebuyers are successfully negotiating for concessions like repair money, closing cost assistance, or rate buydowns.
What I'm seeing locally here in the Bay Area tells an interesting story. Oakland is sitting at around eighteen percent of sellers cutting prices, while San Jose is lower at under seventeen percent. San Francisco's single-digit price drop rate really underscores how different the peninsula market is from the rest of the region right now. For my clients thinking about listing here in the East Bay or Fremont area, the takeaway is clear: price it right from day one because once a listing goes stale, you're fighting an uphill battle even in a buyer-friendly market.
