A report from the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. "Builders are offering bigger price cuts for new homes in the Tampa Bay area even though the demand for homes is said to outpace the supply. In the first quarter of last year, prices were reduced on 27 percent of new homes with an average cut of 2.3 percent, Zillow found. In the fourth quarter of the year, prices were reduced on 32.3 percent of homes with an average cut of 3.3 percent. Those cuts dropped the median price of a new bay area home to $289,900 at the end of the year versus $329,900 early in the year."

"Nationally, 25 percent of new-construction homes had a price cut in the fourth quarter, compared with 19.2 percent in the first quarter. That mirrors a trend seen in the overall housing market, with price cuts becoming more common."

The Orange County Register in California. "Faced with the largest inventory of unsold finished homes in six years, Southern California’s homebuilders have resorted to price cutting. According to Zillow, 25.9 percent of new homes on the market in Los Angeles and Orange counties in the fourth quarter had price cuts. In 2018’s first quarter, 19.5 percent of homes were discounted. In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, 28 percent of new homes had price cuts — No. 11 nationally."

"Builders typically cut selling prices as a last resort, preferring to lure customers in slow times with concessions on everything from mortgage terms to home upgrades. But this isn’t another Southern California real estate quirk — it’s a nationwide trend as 25.1 percent of new homes had price cuts at year’s end up from 19.2 percent of new homes at the start of 2018."

"New home projects are stuck with plenty of unsold homes to move. Housing tracker MetroStudy found at the end of the third quarter, 3,401 new homes were finished but unsold in our four-county region. That’s up 428 homes in 12 months, or 14 percent, and was the highest inventory level since 2012’s second quarter."

"And builders must compete with a swollen supply of existing homes, too. According to listings watcher ReportsOnHousing, 34,027 residences were on the market in the four Southern California counties as of Jan. 10 — up 10,313 listings or 43 percent in a year."

"As a result of the sluggish demand, Southern California builders made some of the deepest price cuts seen nationwide. L.A.-O.C. reductions ran 8.5 percent — tied with San Francisco for tops among major metros — on residences with a $2 million median price. That strongly suggests local builders were too optimistic about sales estimates on higher-end housing. In 2018’s first quarter, cuts averaged 5.9 percent on residence with a $2,348,000 median price."

From Market Watch. "Buying a new home doesn’t need to break the bank as more buyers are finding discounted properties. Denver saw the largest share of new homes with price cuts at more than 40% during the fourth quarter."

"Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist with Zillow, said the price cuts that have occurred recently are less a sign that the homes’ sellers were desperate and more an indication that appraisals were coming in lower than previously expected."