According to a new report from Realtor.com, 20.4% of real estate listings nationwide had at least one price reduction during the month of August.
Price reductions occur when a seller comes onto the market at one price but later reduces it, usually due to a lack of offers or buyer interest.
Among the nation’s major metro areas, Denver, Portland, and Salt Lake City had the highest percentage of seller price reductions.
List Prices Are Down Across Most of the U.S.
According to the company’s analysts, the U.S. housing market has entered a late-summer cooling phase that includes price softening.
The nationwide median list price for homes declined by 1.3% over the past year or so, reflecting weaker demand from buyers.
As usual, home prices vary considerably depending on where you live. San Jose had the highest median list price at $1,349,000, while Memphis had the lowest at $299,990.
So there’s a difference of more than $1 million between the high and low ends of the spectrum.
But what most of the 50 major metro areas in this report had in common was that list prices have trended downward.
Denver, Portland, and SLC Lead the Nation for Price Cuts
This report also revealed a broad spectrum when it comes to price reductions from sellers.
Some metros in the Northeast have price reduction shares as low as 10%, which means the vast majority of listings have not been reduced in price.
In contrast, most metros in the Sunbelt region have price reduction shares above 20%.
Nationwide, 20.4% of active real estate listings had a price cut.
But when we sort the data based on the percentage of seller price cuts, three metro areas rise to the top—Denver, Portland, and Salt Lake City.
1. Denver, Colorado: 31.4% Price Reductions
Among the nation’s top 50 metropolitan areas, the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, Colorado metro had the highest percentage of seller price reductions.
More than 31% of Denver-area housing market listings had a price cut last month. That’s nearly a third of all listings.
Not surprisingly, Denver is also showing weakness when it comes to home prices. Over the past year, the median list price for this market declined by 4.2%.
These two trends are connected. Today’s price reductions can eventually put downward pressure on home prices across the board.
Falling prices don’t just affect the homeowners who are currently trying to sell. They can gradually affect the market value of homes that aren’t for sale, too.
And that’s what we’re seeing across the Denver housing market in 2026.
2. Portland, Oregon: 30.5% Price Reductions
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon metro area comes in at #2 nationally, for seller price reductions.
Last month, 30.5% of Portland housing market listings had at least one price cut by the seller. That’s more than 10% higher than the national average for that same period.
Portland-area home prices have been mostly flat over the past year, with only a 0.7% annual decline in the median list price according to this report.
Both of these trends benefit home buyers. Flat prices reduce urgency, while the relatively high percentage of price reductions shows that sellers are willing to negotiate.
According to Redfin, the Portland metro area is currently a buyer’s market, with sellers outnumbering buyers by 48%.
3. Salt Lake City, Utah: 30.3% Price Reductions
Rounding out the top three, we have the Salt Lake City housing market, where 30.3% of listings had a price reduction last month.
Salt Lake City has also had a decline in real estate listing prices over the past year, a recurring theme among these housing markets.
According to Realtor.com, the median list price for the Salt Lake City-Murray metropolitan area declined by 2.7% over the past year, dropping to $567,000.
The Salt Lake City housing market has also gained inventory over the past year, giving home buyers more options. Active listings were up by 11% compared to last year.
The Full Top-10 List of Price Cut Markets
The table below shows the top 10 U.S. metro areas with the highest percentage of price reductions, including the three mentioned above.
Most of these markets have also gained inventory over the past year, especially in Charlotte, Indianapolis, and Salt Lake City, where active property listings grew by more than 10%.
This is why some sellers feel pressured to lower their asking prices. With more listings to compete with, they might have to offer incentives or drop their prices to attract offers.
How Home Buyers Can Benefit From This
When sellers are reducing their asking prices, it can be a sign that local housing market supply (listings) exceeds the level of demand (buyers).
That gives buyers more opportunities to negotiate the price, ask for concessions, or add contingencies and favorable terms to the purchase agreement.
But buyers shouldn’t automatically assume that a high percentage of price reductions means they’re in a buyer’s market. Housing conditions can vary from one neighborhood to the next, even with the same city.
Before making an offer, buyers should look at local inventory levels, recent sales statistics, and other revealing metrics.
That kind of homework is often what separates a smart, well-received offer from a lowball offer that gets dismissed by the seller.
The Flip Side: Where Sellers Are Holding Firm
The U.S. housing market is highly fragmented and variable, and it has been since the end of the pandemic.
Case in point: the Northeast is currently home to some of the hottest housing markets in the country, with many of them favoring sellers over buyers.
Last month, the three metros with the lowest rate of price cuts were:
- Hartford — 10.1%
- New York — 10.2%
- Buffalo — 11.1%.
Zillow categorizes these and most other Northeastern metros as seller’s markets, where the demand for homes exceeds the available supply.
So not every market is as buyer-friendly as Denver, Portland, or Salt Lake City.
The lesson here: know your market before diving into it.