March City/Neighborhood Price Reductions

Let’s take our monthly look at which cities and towns have the most price reductions.

The following charts show the percent of MLS, FSBO or REO listings that were price-reduced at some point before leaving the market (either sold or removed unsold from the market) in the past 90 days. Cities/towns or neighborhoods in which the number of homes taken off the market was too small to provide believable estimates are excluded from ranking.

For those that are interested, I have uploaded the full data set in Excel format here. The downloadable Excel file also includes charts showing the top ten cities/towns/neighborhoods with the least reduced-price listings.

First up are the top ten cities with the most price-reduced listings:

Of the 119 cities/towns we ranked in the Bay Area this month, 61 (51%) had price-reduced ratios of fifty percent or more. Aptos and Alamo held their top positions from last month, bringing along four other cities from last month’s top ten as well.

Getting a little more granular, let’s look at the top ten the Bay Area neighborhoods for price reductions:

Of the 109 neighborhoods we ranked in the Bay Area this month, 41 (38%) had a price-reduced ratio of fifty percent or more. Last month’s #1 Country Club Crest actually gained two percentage points, but down in Santa Clara County, Alexander blew every other neighborhood out of the water with a stunning 87% of listings coming off the market with at least one price reduction.

We’re still seeing a degree of consistency in which neighborhoods and cities have the most price reductions. Are sellers in these locations just not very good at finding the right market price in the first place, or are they so anxious to sell that they drop the price early and often? Either way, the regions with the really high percentage of reduced-price homes are probably a good place to go bargain-hunting.