One in Four Sellers Forced to Scale Back Listing Prices

With reports showing home prices reaching five-year highs coming out on a near-monthly basis, home sellers this year have been aggressive in pricing their listings on the market. However, ""new data"":http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2013/11/one-in-four-home-sellers-forced-to-lower-their-asking-price-in-september.html#.Un0EsvmkofQ from technology-powered broker ""Redfin"":http://www.redfin.com/ shows more and more sellers have had to dial back their expectations.

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Only about one in seven sellers had to resort to reducing their listing price in order to move their property, Redfin reported. However, that number has steadily risen to one in four as of September.

""While people assume that price drops exhibit a seasonal pattern where sellers lower prices on the older inventory heading into the fall, Redfin did not see that pattern in 2011 and 2012,"" wrote analyst Tommy Unger. ""Price drops are usually a sign sellers didn't get the offers they hoped for when they originally listed or they simply didn't assess the current market conditions adequately.

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""It's no surprise that our number one home selling tip is pricing your home right the first time,"" he added.

Price reductions were highest in Atlanta, where 42 percent of homes listed saw their prices cut in September. The rest of the top markets for reductions were in the West: Sacramento (where 35 percent of listings were slashed), Phoenix (32 percent), Seattle (32 percent), and San Diego (31 percent).

Reductions were less common in Texas, where San Antonio and Houston each saw 22 percent of their listings drop in price. Philadelphia also reported a relatively low number of price drops (22 percent), along with Raleigh (20 percent) and Long Island (16 percent).

While those areas showed lower rates of price reductions, every one of the metros tracked by Redfin experienced more than they did in September 2012.

Hope isn't lost for sellers looking to get as much as they can out of their home, though--Redfin's data for October shows slightly fewer homes taking a price cut, ending a seven-month streak.

""As home prices are now increasing at a less dramatic rate, sellers and agents are better able to price homes accurately without having to make adjustments later,"" Unger said. ""We also expect price drops to be less common heading into the fall and winter months as home sellers tend to be in less of a rush at this time of year.""