Home Listing Prices Slide for a 16th Straight Week

Asking prices for homes for sale have dropped for 16 weeks in a row, and the decline could keep going. The trend tracks the prices sellers put on their listings, which tend to show the direction of the market before final sale prices catch up.

The pressure is landing on sellers and on the professionals who help them sell. Many sellers who priced high at the start of their listing are being forced to cut. Real estate agents, whose income depends on a steady flow of deals, are also feeling the strain, and many have decided to leave the business altogether. That kind of attrition often shows up once a slowdown lasts longer than people expected.

For buyers, the picture is more mixed. Falling asking prices can create room to negotiate and may give shoppers more choice as listings pile up. But a lower sticker price does not automatically make a home affordable. Mortgage rates, property taxes and insurance costs all shape the monthly payment, so buyers should compare total costs and how long a property has been sitting on the market, not just the headline number.

Whether the streak continues will depend on demand and borrowing costs in the months ahead. Weekly listing data can swing, so one more week of declines does not prove a crash is underway. A run this long, though, is hard to dismiss, and sellers who need to move will have to decide whether to keep cutting or wait for conditions to change.