Home Sellers Cut $27.1 Billion off Listing Prices

Sellers slashed prices for 24.6% of all homes listed in the US market as of July 1, 2009, totaling $27.1bn in reductions during their listing life, but some troubled markets could be finding their feet, according to a monthly report by Trulia, a real estate listing service. On average, sellers cut price tags by 10.4% on homes, only a small decline from 10.6% from the previous month. But swooning markets like Las Vegas and Los Angeles showed signs of improvement. Las Vegas saw a 33% reduction the number of homes being slashed in price compared to one month ago. Los Angeles marked a 25% improvement. “All real estate is local and we’re seeing glimmers of hope as price stabilization occurs in major cities across the nation, including some of the earliest hit cities that have experienced huge declines in the past few years,” said Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia, in a corporate release. But sellers could just be cutting prices, desperate shed properties off the market, Flint said. Jacksonville, Boston and Minneapolis top the list of cites that saw the most price reductions. Owners cut prices on 39% of homes, resulting in more than $119m in total reductions. Write to Jon Prior.