A quarter (24.5%) of San Francisco-area home sellers cut their list prices during the four weeks ending August 16, the highest share since at least 2015, according to a new report from Redfin.

That's more than double the rate from a year earlier, marking the largest annual increase in the share of active listings with price drops among the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas.

San Francisco's price-drop rate has held steady at above 24% in late summer, clocking in at 24.1% during the most recent period in Redfin's data—the four weeks ending Aug. 23.

San Francisco was one of just 11 of the top 50 metros that experienced an increase in the share of listings that cut prices, rising to 24.1% from 11.4% a year earlier. 

Chicago, Philadelphia and New York were among the 10 other places where the rate of price drops rose from the prior year during the four weeks ending Aug. 23.

"Buyers in San Francisco want fire-sale deals, and they're not settling until they find them. They're in no rush because there's so much uncertainty right now - if the price isn't right, they can just go rent a house in Lake Tahoe for a year until their employer gives concrete guidance on if or when they need to go back to the office," said local Redfin agent Carlos Barrientos.

"I'm seeing a lot of buyers make lowball offers that initially get rejected, but then they get a call back from the sellers a few weeks later saying they're willing to drop the price."

High-rise condos and smaller, outdated homes - where it may be challenging to set up a home office - are the property types that are most commonly seeing price drops, Barrientos added.

San Francisco's housing market has softened during the coronavirus pandemic as its residents have fled the dense, expensive city in search of more space to make remote work and homeschooling more feasible.

Photos: Family Home For Sale in Cow Hollow, San Francisco, CA.