I moved back to SF from Austin in 2000, and around that time there were lots of Prudential listings there that were listed with “value range pricing.” I thought it was completely bizarre — as a buyer, why on earth would anyone offer more than the bottom of the range, and as a seller, why would you tip your hand and give away your bottom line?

Turns out this strategy is big in San Diego, according to an article in the New York Times. I know we usually post about San Francisco, but I thought it was interesting to learn the history of the strategy: it started in Australia and ended up in use in some markets in the US. Now in San Diego, about 50% of listings use this method.

I don’t think it would catch on here. Any thoughts?