For the first time in 11 months, buyers gained some negotiation power in December. Homebuyers negotiated a median 2.7 percent, or $5,618, off the last listing price of homes sold in December, up slightly from 2.6 percent or $5,538 in November. We calculate this by comparing the last listing price of individual homes and their final sale price.
That’s still far less than buyers were negotiating off the listing price at this time last year. In December 2008, they bargained a median 4.5 percent, or $10,018, off the last listing price.
Buyers in the Vero Beach, Fla. metropolitan statistical area were again most firmly in the driver’s seat and negotiated a median 8.8 percent off the last listing price.
In many markets in California, sellers continued to be in the driver’s seat, and homes often sold for more than asking price. Many of these markets were among the hardest-hit in the country by the housing downturn, and foreclosure re-sales make up more than 50 percent of all home sales in most of these.
Listing prices across the nation showed a slight increase December, with the median price of homes listed on Zillow at $209,900. That marks a 0.4 percent increase since November, but a decrease of 6.7 percent since December 2008.