Mortgage rates have climbed 62 basis points in five weeks, reaching 7.28% and their highest level in nearly three years. At the same time, more than one in five US listings took a price cut in September, giving listing agents fresh reason to revisit pricing with sellers whose homes are sitting.
The share of listings with a reduced price reached 20.8%, the highest monthly level since October 2022, according to September housing data. An Oct. 5 housing market update said the recent rate surge has cut more than 6% from the purchasing power of buyers working with a fixed budget.
A separate analysis found that 21.1% of active sellers cut their asking price during the four weeks ending Sept. 20, a record for that point in the year in data going back to 2022. For agents, a slower listing now calls for a closer look at whether the problem is price, affordability or the property itself.
Why sellers are under more pressure
Inventory is giving buyers more room to compare. Active listings rose 5.4% year over year in September to about 1.16 million homes, while pending inventory fell 4.1%.
The pressure is uneven, however. Price reductions appeared on 15.2% of listings in the Northeast compared with 22.8% in the West. An agent in a market with limited inventory may have little reason to react to a national statistic, while a seller surrounded by competing listings may need to move sooner.
Use the listing data before recommending a cut
Start by updating the comps. Check new active listings, pending sales and recent closings, then compare the seller’s days on market and showing activity with the closest competition.
Buyer feedback can sharpen the diagnosis. Sparse showings and recent comps below the asking price point toward a positioning problem, particularly if competing homes are drawing buyers.
An agent could frame it this way: We’re getting less traffic than comparable listings, and the newest sales no longer support where we’re positioned.
That keeps the discussion centered on what buyers are doing now rather than whether the seller was wrong about the home’s value.
When a price cut makes sense
A reduction is easier to justify when buyers are not engaging at the current asking price, comparable homes are moving faster or newer sales have reset the likely range. But changing the price is only one option.
If buyers are touring but financing or cash-to-close is the obstacle, a seller concession may work better. Repeated complaints about condition, clutter or photography point toward presentation instead.
For loans governed by Fannie Mae guidelines, financing concessions are limited by factors including loan-to-value ratio and eligible borrower costs. Agents should confirm the buyer’s loan terms with the lender before treating a concession and a price reduction as interchangeable.
What to bring to the seller conversation
Bring updated comps, days-on-market comparisons, grouped showing feedback and realistic net-proceeds scenarios. Give the seller options instead of a vague request to “drop the price.”
When tours are happening but offers are not, an agent might say: Buyers are engaging with the home, so let’s determine whether the sticking point is price, payment or condition before we decide what to change.
Agents do not need to convince sellers that their home is “worth less.” They need to show what competing listings are doing, where buyers are responding and what each available move would mean for the seller’s proceeds. That turns an uncomfortable price-cut conversation into a pricing decision backed by current evidence.