This Is the City Where Home Prices Are Being Slashed

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Sep 9, 8:31AM EDT · Published Sep 8, 1:00PM EDT

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This Is the City Where Home Prices Are Being Slashed — © Rawpixel / Getty Images

The residential real estate market in the U.S. has been on an unprecedented run. Partially due to the migration of people from the largest coastal cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, home prices in mid-sized and smaller cities have increased — by double digits in the majority of cases.

The carefully followed S&P Case-Shiller home price index for June showed nationwide home prices rose 18.6% year over year. In Phoenix, the figure was 29.3% for the same period. However, in Des Moines, Iowa, the trend might be beginning to reverse. While home prices are still rising in Des Moines, the city has had the largest percentage of homes for sale that have had their prices cut in the second quarter.

There are other factors driving the jump in home prices. Among them are historically low mortgage rates, which make homes many people could only dream of owning more affordable. And, as people continue to work from home, where they live can be based on lifestyle preferences and not where their employers are located. These are the best cities to live and work from home in 2021.

In a few cities, however, there is a higher percentage of homes undergoing price cuts. In Realtor.com’s recently released report titled, “Boon for Buyers: 10 Cities Where Sellers Are Slashing Home Prices,” Senior Economist George Ratiu explained, “In our July data, about 45 cities from the top 300 largest showed an increase in the number of homes with price cuts.” Ratiu added that for buyers, this could mean “a less frenzied market, with more choice and better prices.”

There are several reasons these markets may be running against the tide. One is lack of demand. Another is that in some markets, it may be traditional to price homes well above what they are likely to sell for and then reduce the price if the home sits on the market unsold for too long. These are the most expensive towns to buy a home in the nation.

The city with the largest percentage of homes for sale that have had their prices cut is Des Moines, at 32%. The median asking price for a listed home is $193,050, which is about two-thirds of the national figure. In other words, Des Moines can be considered an “affordable” market.

One reason Realtor.com researchers think there have been price cuts is additional inventory that has become available recently. Another is that high home prices may have caused people to simply drop out of the market. Since home prices trends by market continue to shift rapidly, the situation in Des Moines could change again.

Click here for the 10 cities where home prices are being slashed

10. Peoria, Illinois
> Median list price: $89,550
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 18%

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9. Anchorage, Alaska
> Median list price: $315,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 19%

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8. Winter Park, Florida
> Median list price: $569,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 19%

7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
> Median list price: $250,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 19%

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6. Portland, Oregon
> Median list price: $550,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 20%

5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
> Median list price: $289,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 22%

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4. Metairie, Louisiana
> Median list price: $359,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 24%

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3. Toledo, Ohio
> Median list price: $117,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 26%

2. Midland, Texas
> Median list price: $330,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 28%

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1. Des Moines, Iowa
> Median list price: $193,050
> Pct. of home listings with price cuts: 32%

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.