Looking for a bargain on a new home? Your best bet is to buy during the middle of the week.

A new Zillow report finds that 19% of sellers in the San Francisco metro area — which includes the East Bay and Peninsula — cut prices on Thursdays, more than any other day of the week.

In the South Bay, the most price cuts came on Wednesdays, with 21% of sellers lowering asking prices.

That’s compared to around 6% across the Bay Area on weekends, when sellers host more open houses to generate offers.

The rest of the work week is also a good time to buy, with at least 14% of sellers slashing prices.

Ramesh Rao, a real estate agent in the South Bay, said he typically makes price cuts on Tuesdays, so agents representing buyers have time to learn about the new listings before open houses on the weekend.

“It basically gives a second life to a property that has been on the market,” Rao said.

In the Bay Area, the average price cut is currently around 4% — or about $55,000. The median listing price for a single-family home is about $1.2 million in the San Francisco metro area and $1.5 million in the South Bay, according to Zillow. The report finds sellers tend to drop asking prices after homes have been on the market for about three weeks.

In recent months, Bay Area home prices have fallen from record highs as rising interest rates — currently around 6.6% for a typical mortgage — have squeezed many would-be buyers out of the market. Growing economic uncertainty and tech layoffs have also softened demand.

That’s leading to a higher-than-usual number of price cuts, with about a quarter of current Bay Area listings seeing a reduction, according to Zillow.

Heading into the traditionally slow winter homebuying season, buyers’ bargaining power should remain strong as prices are expected to continue declining.

Usually, sellers account for the colder months in their pricing strategy, meaning fewer price cuts, according to Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy. But this year could be an exception.

“This fall, a record number of sellers have already adjusted their list price to keep up with the rapidly shifting market,” Divounguy said in a statement. “The price they set just weeks ago may no longer be attainable in light of rising mortgage rates and falling demand.”

Source: www.mercurynews.com