NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Fewer U.S. home sellers cut listing prices on their homes for a second straight month in December as buyers rush to beat rising interest rates and an expiring tax credit, real estate website Trulia.com said on Tuesday.
Prices on 21 percent of homes on the market as of Jan. 1 were sliced at least once, down from 25.6 percent two months earlier.
The share of sellers reducing their asking prices has fallen to the lowest level since San Francisco-based Trulia started tracking reductions in April 2009.
The average discount for price-reduced homes was unchanged from the prior month at 11 percent off the original price.
Average 30-year mortgage rates jumped from a record low 4.71 percent early in December to end the year at 5.14 percent, according to home funding company Freddie Mac (FRE.N). The rate slipped in the first week of this year but is seen nearing 6 percent later in 2010.
"I expect reductions to rise again as the tax credit extension deadline approaches but I also expect mortgage rates to rise, so they may cancel out the savings" from list price reductions, Flint said.
"On a national level, I expect the industry to be on a roller coaster for 2010 and hopefully see some stability in 2011," he added.
Price cuts were fairly evenly disbursed regionally in the latest month.
Twenty percent of listings in the South had price cuts, while reductions were 22 percent in the West, Midwest and the Northeast.
The luxury market continues to pay a heavy price. Homes listed at $2 million or more cut prices by an average of 15 percent from the original price, the most since Trulia started tracking this last April. These houses represent less than 2 percent of all current listings on Trulia, but account for 24 percent of the $21.2 billion in home price reductions. (Editing by Dan Grebler)
Here is a list of cities with the MOST price reductions:
(Percent of listings with price reductions/Average reduction %)
1. Mesa, AZ 29%/14%
2. Indianapolis, IN 29%/9%
3. Baltimore, MD 29%/12%
4. Charlotte, NC 30%/10%
5. Tucson, AZ 30%/10%
6. Omaha, NE 32%/7%
7. Seattle, WA 32%/10%
8. Portland, OR 33%/9%
9. Milwaukee. WI 33%/10%
10. Jacksonville, FL 36%/10%
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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