Early Season Home Price Cuts Soar As Sellers Whiff on Sky High Wish-Prices
Recent data suggests that Chicago-area home sellers have been cutting their asking prices in numbers not usually seen until the market dips in summer and fall.
Sellers trying to capitalize on the ongoing housing shortage have been shooting for the moon with crazy high list prices. The median asking price of homes in the Chicago metro area was slightly over $410,000 in early February, higher than last year’s peak asking prices in April and May of $408,000.
But anxious buyers are worried about overpaying while mortgage interest rates remain high, and also it is well documented that cold spells reduce showings and home offers.
In the Chicago metro area, 3.7% of active listings had price cuts during the month that ended February, per Redfin. The percentage is small, but in the last 3 years we didn’t see that level of price-cutting until July or later. In 2024, price cuts hit 3.2% in August and never went higher.