One in Three Home Sellers Cut Asking Prices in September as Mortgage Rates Exceed 7%

One in three home sellers in Salt Lake City slashed asking prices in September as mortgage rates above 7% sidelined buyers, according to a Realtor.com analysis for MarketWatch. Salt Lake City led the 50 largest U.S. metros with 33.6% of listings cut, followed by Denver at 32.1%, Portland at 31.6%, Indianapolis at 30.5% and Phoenix at 29.0%. Nationally, about one in five listings had a price cut in September — the highest share in nearly four years. The median U.S. list price was roughly $420,000, down 1.4% year over year. Parcl HQ estimated cuts at 42.6% of listings, with a median discount of 5.1%. Pittsburgh posted the deepest markdowns at 6.71% of initial asking price, followed by Buffalo, Austin, Cleveland and St. Louis, all near 6%. Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told MarketWatch the market will stay in a "deep freeze" until 30-year mortgage rates fall to a 6% handle.