News Flash Market Minute · October 2026
The Fall Market Shift: Fewer Contracts, More Price Cuts
Valuable and unique information about the pulse of the market, based on real-time data.
The housing market is shifting this fall, with higher mortgage rates putting many buyers on ice until the spring. We see that fewer homes are going into contract each week, and price reductions are accelerating for those properties that are still on the market. But price reductions are not accelerating evenly everywhere.
The percentage of homes on the market that have taken an asking price cut tells us a lot about buyer demand. When demand is better and supply is tighter, fewer sellers need a price cut. When the market is cooler, those numbers climb into the 30s or 40s.
Here Are A Few Insights That Stood Out
Pending Home Sales And Inventory
The pace of homes going into contract is obviously slowing across the country. We counted only 64,000 newly pending sales this week, which was 16% fewer than last year at this time. As demand slows, inventory grows. We now have 4.8% more homes on the market than a year ago, totaling 1.13 million homes in active inventory.
The Reality Of Price Reductions
As a rule of thumb, about 30% of listings take a price cut before they sell in a “normal” market. Nationally right now, 42.9% have taken a price cut. Cities like Austin, Denver and Salt Lake currently have more than 50% of homes on the market with price cuts. On the other hand, San Francisco has only 5% of listings with price cuts.
Interestingly, it’s the markets that have historically had very tight inventory, places like Chicago, DC, Boston and New York, where sellers are now getting surprised, and price reductions are climbing.
Home Prices And Magnitude Of Cuts
The median ask price for homes on the market is now $435,000, which is 1.1% below last year at this time. Not only is the frequency of price cuts rising, but the magnitude is too. The average size of a price drop is now 4.2% (or about $18,000).
National figures from real-time market data at the time of writing, October 2026. Individual results vary by home and neighborhood.