20 metro areas with the highest share of home-price cuts in October, some in the $200,000s — plus 6 aggressive bargains buyers can ask for, according to 2 real-estate experts

The home-buying frenzy that took over most of 2020 and 2021 is over. Competition in bidding wars has cooled, and sellers are dropping their prices in some areas.

If you're shopping in those markets, this is good news, the more so because it's in an environment where mortgage rates are more than double where they were just three years ago.

The significant advantage to buyers is negotiating power, and if done right, it could help offset some of those higher mortgage rates.

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But first, it's important to know where exactly buyers have the upper hand. Below is a list of 20 metro areas with the highest share of home sellers dropping their listing prices in October. The data is based on the top 50 most populated areas as defined by the US Census Bureau. Home-price data is from Redfin and is based on data from local multiple listing services.

Metro area

Median sale price

Share of homes with price drops in Oct 2023

Cincinnati, OH

$275,000

Indianapolis, IN

$290,000

Denver, CO

$575,000

Tampa, FL

$370,000

Portland, OR

$535,000

San Antonio, TX

$310,000

Austin, TX

$444,000

Dallas, TX

$420,000

Minneapolis, MN

$365,000

Fort Worth, TX

$350,000

Jacksonville, FL

$360,000

St. Louis, MO

$245,000

Sacramento, CA

$578,000

Seattle, WA

$773,475

Baltimore, MD

$362,000

Cleveland, OH

$210,000

Orlando, FL

$399,990

Houston, TX

$329,700

Phoenix, AZ

$450,000

Kansas City, MO

$315,000

How to get a good bargain It's no longer about coming in with a strong offer or being prepared to bid up, according to Shmuel Shayowitz, the president of Approved Funding, a non-depository mortgage bank founded in 1987. It's a different market from where we were a few years ago.

"It's just a matter of going in there and trying to be as aggressive as possible in low-balling the offer," Shayowitz said.

Nailing down a lower price could offset the cost of higher interest rates and drop your monthly payments. He told Business Insider he has been hand-holding some homebuyers through the process of putting in lower offers based on the level of competition within each market.

To be exact, you want to get ahead of the decline curve. So, based on the trend, if the market has gone down by 5%, you could put in an offer below 7% or 8% of the asking, he added.

Dottie Herman, the vice chair emerita of real-estate brokerage firm Douglas Elliman, says if you find yourself in a buyer's market and a property is well-priced, you can offer 15-17% below the asking price. In exchange, you can provide favorable concessions, she noted. And if a property has been on the market for more than three months, it increases the possibility they're willing to negotiate.

Herman emphasizes doing your homework before making an offer to see what comparable properties are selling for.

"You're better off if you have the ammunition with you so that you know what's out there. Then you can justify why you are making a lower offer," Herman said.

Everything is a compromise, and the way you negotiate is essential, Herman added. Knowing why the seller needs to get out of the property helps. If they need to move by a specific date or need that cash, you can offer a quick closing. On the other hand, if they're searching for another property and may need more time, you can provide flexible closing terms or even do an occupancy agreement, where the seller rents the unit for a certain period.

Price drops aren't the only things buyers can get. More than one-third — or 35% — of home sales in the three months ending October 31 included concessions to buyers, according to Redfin . That was up from 27.6% two years earlier.

A concession could be in the form of offering to pay closing costs. This can be a big bonus, especially in states with high fees. The national closing cost with taxes in 2021 was $6,905 on average, but it's closer to $30,000 in places like Washington, DC.

Buyers can also ask the seller to cover things such as mortgage-rate buydowns, which is paying for points to reduce the interest rate, home inspection feesattorney fees, and cash for repairs.