Though some are quick to assume that if a home has been on the market for more than a week or two, something has to be wrong with it—especially if its listing price drops—that’s not necessarily the case.
Sellers may opt to reduce the cost of their property for a variety of reasons, including situations where they listed it at a price it may have commanded in 2020 or 2021, but doesn’t hold in today’s market.
But regardless of why a property is being offered at a discount, these drops in price happen on some days of the week more frequently than others. Here’s what potential homebuyers should know.
When to check for price cuts in property listings
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According to research from Zillow, nationwide, more property price cuts (18.5%) are made on Thursdays than any other day of the week. It also happens to be the case that more properties are listed and come onto the market on Thursdays as well.
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But it also important to note that Mondays (17.5%), Tuesdays (17.0%), and Wednesdays (17.6%) see their fair share of price cuts, while they’re less common on Fridays (13.7%), Saturdays (5.8%), and Sundays (9.9%).
Plus, while listing prices tend not to change over the weekend, in some markets, Thursday isn’t necessarily the best day for deals. For example, drops in listing cost are most common on Mondays in Cleveland, Detroit, and Miami, and on Tuesdays in Baltimore and Philadelphia, Zillow reports.
So what does this tell us? If you’re monitoring real estate listings, hoping that the price will drop on a property you’re interested in, and you see a reduction on a Monday or Tuesday, that’s likely it for the week. Don’t sit around waiting for another cut on Thursday—if you’re serious about the home, take action before another potential buyer does.
How much will the price of a property typically drop?
Property price cuts depend on a variety of factors, including the home’s location, the current interest rate, and housing market trends. But according to Zillow, the median price drop in 2022 was around 3%, which works out to be roughly $11,000 on the average home, based on the company’s research.
Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, homeowners typically waited to drop the price on their property until it had been on the market for around a month. But since 2020, discounts have been happening faster—approximately three weeks after going on the market, Zillow reports.