Housing Market Spotlight: Price cuts and the battle for leverage

The share of homes with price cuts is getting closer to where it was a year ago. For the week ending Aug. 7, 41.44% of active single-family listings nationally had taken a price cut, compared with 41.85% during the same week last year. Eight weeks ago, the gap between 2026 and 2025 was 1.34 percentage points. It has narrowed to just 0.41 points. That could be easy to read as a straightforward signal that sellers are facing more pricing pressure. Look closer, and the picture gets more complicated. HousingWire Data shows that some markets have significantly more price cuts than a year ago. Others have fewer, even as inventory grows. And in some markets, price cuts are increasing while homes continue to move at a stronger pace. The national number tells us what is happening in aggregate. The local data helps explain what it means for housing professionals making decisions today. Price cuts are moving closer to last year’s level HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami has been tracking the narrowing gap in price cuts in his weekly Housing Market Tracker. Higher mortgage rates have put more pressure on housing demand in recent weeks, but the national market continues to hold up better...