Price-Reduced Homes Rise 24% Year-over-year in September, Says ZipRealty Index

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ZipRealty's (NASDAQ: ZIPR) new Price Reduction Index  reported this week that the number of price-reduced homes on the market in September 2010 increased dramatically compared to the same time last year, rising 24.2 percent.

According to their index, which is a review of MLS-listed properties in 26 markets that is surveyed by ZipRealty, list prices were cut at least once for 47.8 percent of homes on the market in September, an increase of nearly 10 percent over last year.

September also saw more discounted homes for sale than August, with the number of price-reduced homes on the market up 2.1 according to the report. The report also found that sellers had reduced their list prices an average of twice with a median reduction of $19,165.

"Sellers appear to be cutting their prices again," said Leslie Tyler, Vice President of Marketing for ZipRealty. "Last spring the tax credit helped to bring buyers into the market, and we didn't see sellers reducing prices by as much.   But now sellers seem to be cutting prices more aggressively going into the typically slower fall and winter seasons."
 
Highlights of ZipRealty's September index include:

• Nearly half (47.8 percent) of listed homes in September included at least one price reduction - an increase of 1.5 percent compared to August

• The number of price-reduced homes rose quicker than inventory, with the number of price-reduced homes rising 2.1 percent compared to a .6 percent increase in overall inventory in September as compared to August

• The median list price dropped by 1.75 percent from August to $245,265, and the average percentage of price reduction amount to list price rose to 7.25 percent in September

• In 10 major markets, more than half of homes on the market in September included at least one price reduction, up from seven markets in August. Those markets are Jacksonville, Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando, Chicago, Tucson, Baltimore, Austin, Orange County and Seattle

• Jacksonville, Fla., continues to have the highest percentage of price-reduced homes out of the 26 markets surveyed. More than 55 percent of Jacksonville listings in September included at least one price reduction

• Denver had the lowest percentage of price-reduced homes in September, with 34.4 percent of listings including at least one reduction

• Homes listed for sale in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach were discounted by the largest percentage of original list price nationwide (23 percent), followed by Orlando  (11.7 percent) and Jacksonville (11.8 percent)

• The markets with the largest median price reduction in absolute dollars were:

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