Salt Lake City, Indianapolis and Denver had the highest shares of home listings with a price cut among the 50 largest U.S. metros in October, each above three in 10, according to Realtor.com’s October housing report. Salt Lake City’s share was 31.8%, Indianapolis’s 31.7% and Denver’s 30.9%.
A fourth metro, Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro on the Oregon and Washington border, also topped 30% at 30.6%. Nationally, 20.5% of listings had a cut, so the four cities sit roughly 10 points above the national share.
Which of the four is getting worse?
Two are climbing and two are easing. Salt Lake City’s share rose 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier, the biggest move of the group, and Indianapolis rose 0.6 points. Denver’s share fell 0.6 points and Portland’s fell 0.5 points.
Compared with September, all three of the metros in Realtor.com’s September report have eased. Salt Lake City stood at 33.6% then, Denver at 32.1% and Portland at 31.6%. Indianapolis was not among September’s top three, so it joined the leaders this month.
For a homeowner in one of these metros who is preparing to list, the number that matters is what it implies for a first asking price. In Salt Lake City and Indianapolis, nearly one listing in three has already come down. A seller who prices off last spring’s sales is more likely to end up among the cuts, so recent sold prices and the cuts on nearby listings are the numbers to check first.
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What is happening to buyers in these cities?
Realtor.com’s national numbers show demand thinning. Homes under contract fell 10.5% from a year earlier, the steepest drop in nearly three years. Danielle Hale, the company’s chief economist, said buyers are stepping back as higher mortgage rates cut into their buying power, and the average 30-year rate in October was 7.33%, 110 basis points higher than a year earlier.
Realtor.com’s report does not break out why the four metros lead. Its regional figures offer a hint without proving it. Active listings were up 13.8% in the Midwest, where Indianapolis sits, and up 9.0% in the West, home to Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland. More homes to compare gives buyers more room to ask for a lower price.
Fewer new listings have not spared the West. New listings there fell 10.8% from a year earlier, the biggest regional drop, yet three of the four most cut-heavy metros, Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland, are western. Fresh supply is shrinking in the region, yet price cuts remain common there.
Where do sellers cut the least?
The gap between cities is wide. In September, the lowest price-cut shares among the 50 metros belonged to New York at 10.3%, Hartford, Connecticut, at 12.6% and Buffalo at 12.9%, all in the Northeast. New York’s 10.3% in September is about a third of what Salt Lake City posted in October.
More inventory alone does not explain the split. Active listings rose 16.5% in the Northeast from a year earlier, the fastest of any region, yet Northeast metros anchored the bottom of the price-cut list. The share depends on the city, not just on the national trend.
What counts as a listing in these numbers?
Realtor.com’s figures cover the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos, townhomes, row homes and co-ops on its site. New construction is excluded unless it is listed through a multiple listing service that provides data to Realtor.com. The metro rankings cover the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas as the federal Office of Management and Budget defines them.
That scope matters for the headline claim. Smaller metros are not in the comparison, and a city outside the 50 could post a higher share without appearing on the list. Within the 50, the four above 30% are the only ones that cleared the mark.
Salt Lake City’s 1.6-point rise is the one to watch. It came even though the city’s share is 1.8 points below its September reading, so the share has eased from last month while staying above last year. Realtor.com’s data show the direction of the share, not what drove it.
What does the cut share say, and what does it leave out?
The share counts listings, not dollars. A listing that dropped its price by 1% counts the same as one that dropped it by 10%, and Realtor.com does not publish the size of the cuts in this report. The share describes the homes on the market in October, not every home that came up for sale during the year.
It also says nothing about what buyers eventually pay. A cut listing can still sell above or below its new price, and the report does not track closed sales. The share is a gauge of how many sellers moved, not of where prices settled.
The national backdrop is mild by comparison. Realtor.com’s national share of 20.5% was 0.2 points above last year and 0.3 points below September. In the four metros above 30%, a lot of sellers have already moved, even while the country as a whole barely changed.
Taking the house off the market in Denver or Indianapolis?
An owner who lists, cuts and still gets no offer may decide to stay, and then the question is what the house costs to keep. In metros where three in 10 listings have already come down, that decision is a real one, and the insurance renewal arrives whether or not the house sells.
The Cut Your House Costs guide includes a lower home insurance bill by shopping and asking for every discount. It also has a home-cost audit worksheet that totals every yearly bill on one page, so a seller who stays can see where the money goes.
Get the guide to a lower home insurance bill if the listing comes off the market →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
