• Home Sellers in U.S. Mark Down Prices by $27 Billion, Led by Wealthiest

That headline figure is actually much higher in reality, as:

"Trulia excluded foreclosed homes and undeveloped land from the survey. It looked at all properties for sale as of July 1 and calculated how many had been listed for a higher price at any time since they were first offered."

Also, this is another sign that the wealthy are getting clobbered. Higher income taxes and capital gain taxes will soon be bullet number two for the upper end consumers in the U.S.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=agq0NRuqLW38

Home Sellers in U.S. Cut Prices by $27 Billion, Trulia Says
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By Daniel Taub

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home sellers cut the prices of their properties by a total of $27.1 billion as the recession and rising foreclosures curtailed demand, Trulia Inc. said.

One quarter of sellers with homes on the market as of July 1 reduced their price by an average of 10 percent, the San Francisco-based real estate data provider said today. Properties listed for more than $1 million had the biggest cuts, with owners taking about 13 percent off the asking price.

Prices of existing U.S. homes dropped 17 percent in May from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors. The decline helped boost purchases 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.77 million sales, NAR said.

“Sellers just have to discount their prices to reflect what’s going on,” Pete Flint, chief executive officer of Trulia, said in an interview. “Price reductions will stabilize the market, but I think we’re still some way off.”

The average discount on homes priced for less than $1 million was 9 percent, Trulia said.

In 2007 and 2008, “the lower end of the market was clearly cratering with subprime,” Flint said. “Now you’re seeing the top end of the market with price reductions.”

Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, Jacksonville, Florida, had the biggest percentage of discounts, according to Trulia. Sellers there slashed prices on 39 percent of homes for sale. Boston was second at 35 percent, followed by Minneapolis at 33 percent.

Florida, Nevada

Among cities hurt worst by the U.S. housing slump, Las Vegas and Los Angeles both had price cuts above the national average, Trulia said. The average reduction was 16 percent in Las Vegas and 12 percent in Los Angeles.

Trulia collects data from brokers and agents, third-party providers and multiple-listing services. The closely held company’s database includes 3.5 million properties.

Trulia excluded foreclosed homes and undeveloped land from the survey. It looked at all properties for sale as of July 1 and calculated how many had been listed for a higher price at any time since they were first offered. Some prices were cut more than once.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Taub in Los Angeles at dtaub@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 10, 2009 00:01 EDT