Austin had the nation’s biggest drop in median listing prices in September, falling 9.8 percent year over year. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

If you’ve been waiting for home prices to come back down to earth, one Texas city is giving buyers a much bigger opening than most.

Austin had the biggest year-over-year drop in median listing prices among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas in September, with asking prices falling 9.8 percent to $446,450, according to a new Realtor.com report.

That’s not quite the same thing as saying Austin homes are selling for 10 percent less. Realtor.com is tracking what sellers are asking for-not necessarily what buyers ultimately pay-but the shift is still hard to miss.

Austin’s median listing price per square foot also fell 8.4 percent from a year earlier, while active listings increased 1.4 percent and new listings rose 2.1 percent.

The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area wasn’t alone. Memphis had the second-largest decline at 8.7 percent, followed by Tampa at 6.6 percent. San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix also made the top 10 for the biggest annual drops.

So what’s going on in Austin?

Realtor.com data shows sellers are having to adjust their expectations as buyers get more leverage.

Nationally, 20.8 percent of active listings had a price reduction in September-the highest share for the month since 2018. At the same time, the number of homes for sale increased 5.4 percent from a year earlier, while homes under contract fell 4.1 percent.

In other words: More houses are sitting around, fewer buyers are rushing to grab them and sellers are increasingly cutting prices to get attention.

That’s a pretty big change from the pandemic-era housing frenzy.

Chron has previously reported on the flood of new construction around Central Texas, including hundreds of new homes planned in the Austin area and beyond. Builders have continued expanding into communities such as Lockhart, Manor and Kyle as the region grows.

What about Houston?

Houston isn’t seeing anything close to Austin’s 9.8 percent drop, but the local market is cooling too.

Realtor.com found Houston’s median listing price fell 1.7 percent year over year in September to $353,995, while active listings jumped 5.3 percent to nearly 36,000 homes. About 20.2 percent of Houston listings had price reductions.

That’s consistent with what Houston buyers have been seeing all year. Chron reported in August that the Houston-area inventory had reached a record 40,750 single-family homes, giving buyers more choices and more time to shop around.

Texas’ housing slowdown isn’t even

Dallas-Fort Worth was even steadier. Its median listing price fell just 0.6 percent year over year in September to $422,495, while active listings actually declined 2.3 percent.