Real Estate Intelligence

September 23, 2026

A seller lists a house for $400,000.

A month goes by. No offer.

They cut the price to $389,000.

Another few weeks go by. Still no offer.

To most people, that looks like a listing that isn't selling.

To an investor, it might be the start of a conversation.

More sellers are having to rethink their asking prices. According to Realtor.com’s August housing report, 20.4% of active listings had a price cut in August.

That’s about one in five listings.

It does not mean one in five sellers will accept a low offer. But it does tell us that a lot of sellers started with one expectation and are now facing a different market.

That’s where I’d be paying attention.

Buyers Have More to Choose From

There were approximately 1.14 million active listings on Realtor.com in August, up 3.6% from a year earlier.

The National Association of REALTORS® measured total housing inventory at 1.62 million homes, equal to 4.9 months of supply. That was the highest months-of-supply reading in more than ten years.

Those two organizations measure inventory differently, but they point in the same direction:

Buyers have more options.

When buyers have more options, a seller can’t assume that putting a house online will be enough to get their price.

The house still has to compete.

On condition.

On location.

And especially on price.

Asking Prices and Sale Prices Tell Different Stories

Here’s a detail investors need to understand.

Realtor.com reported that the median listing price fell 1.3% from a year earlier in August.

But NAR reported that the median price of homes that actually sold rose 1.6% over the same period.

How can both be true?

Because they’re measuring different groups of houses. One looks at homes being offered for sale; the other looks at homes that closed. A change in the types of homes in either group can affect the median, too.

So don’t take a national headline about “prices falling” and use it to justify an offer on a specific house.

And don’t take a headline about “prices rising” and assume your deal will sell for more next spring.

Run the numbers on the property in front of you.

That has always been the job. This market is making it harder to get away with skipping it.

A Price Cut Is a Signal, Not a Deal

I see investors make this mistake all the time.

A house was listed at $400,000. Now it’s $375,000.

They assume it’s a deal because the price dropped $25,000.

But what if comparable homes are selling for $350,000?

What if it needs $60,000 in work?

What if the seller listed it too high in the first place?

The price cut tells you the seller has changed their mind about something. It does not tell you what the property is worth.

Before I get excited about a reduced listing, I want to know:

What are comparable properties actually selling for?
How does this house compare with those properties in condition?
How long has it been listed, and how many times has the price changed?
What will the repairs really cost?
What will it cost to hold and sell the property?
Is there enough room for my profit after all of that?

If the deal only works when you ignore one of those numbers, it doesn’t work.

The Seller’s Problem Matters More Than the Price Cut

Two sellers can reduce their prices for completely different reasons.

One has plenty of time and will take the house off the market before accepting a lower offer.

The other needs to move, has already bought another house, and can’t keep paying for both.

Same price cut. Very different opportunity.

That’s why I would look beyond the listing history and try to understand the situation.

Does the property need repairs the seller doesn’t want to make?

Has a previous deal fallen through?

Is the house vacant?

Is the seller paying taxes, insurance and utilities on a property they no longer use?

Would a certain closing date or an as-is sale solve a problem for them?

You still have to make an offer that works for your business. But the better you understand what the seller needs, the better chance you have of putting together an offer they’ll actually consider.

This Is Very Local

National numbers are useful for spotting a change. They won’t tell you what’s happening on a particular street.

In August, price cuts appeared on 31.4% of listings in Denver, 30.5% in Portland, and 30.3% in Salt Lake City, according to Realtor.com.

In Hartford, that figure was just 10.1%.

That’s a big difference.

Even within one metro, a clean house in a desirable neighborhood may sell quickly while a dated house a few miles away sits.

If you invest in one market, track that market. If you invest in several, keep your numbers separate.

I’d watch which houses are reducing prices, which ones are going under contract, and which ones are coming back on the market. Then I’d compare them with recent sold properties before deciding what to offer.

That will tell you far more than a national headline will.

Higher Rates Are Part of the Equation

Buyers are still dealing with expensive financing.

Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.95% as of September 17, up from 6.26% a year earlier.

That affects what buyers can afford. It also affects what an investor may be able to sell a finished property for, how long it could take, and what it costs to hold the deal.

So if you’re buying a flip, be careful about underwriting it as though every finished house will attract multiple offers immediately.

Know your likely buyer.

Know what that buyer’s monthly payment might look like.

And leave room in your numbers if the sale takes longer than you hoped.

My Take

I don’t look at one in five listings taking a price cut and think, “Everything is cheap now.”

I think more sellers are finding out what buyers will actually pay.

Some will hold firm. Some will take their homes off the market. And some will decide that a clean offer, a quick close or a sale without repairs is worth more to them than waiting for their original asking price.

That’s the group I’d be looking for.

But I wouldn’t chase every reduced listing.

I’d find the properties where I can understand the seller’s problem, verify the value, make an offer that solves something, and still have enough margin for the deal to make sense.

The Number I’d Watch Next

I’ll be watching price cuts alongside pending sales.

Realtor.com reported that pending listings slipped 0.2% from a year earlier in August, ending eight straight months of annual growth.

One month doesn’t establish a trend. But if more sellers keep reducing prices and fewer homes go under contract, that tells us the gap between sellers and buyers is still there.

And that gap is where good investors do their work.

Find out what the property is worth.

Find out what the seller needs.

Then make an offer based on both.