Price increases of listed properties

[David Cornett]

Hey,

So I'm looking at a 2BR/1BA in a small town in Virginia. It's currently listed at $60K on Zillow and is a HUD property that's gone into the extended period. I notice on the price history that it was listed for $39K in April before being removed at the end of June...only to reemerge with a 50% price increase!

Am I missing something here? I assume sometimes sellers change agents who might have a different pricing strategy, and in this case maybe HUD thinks it will get lucky. How common is this? Note that I'm wary of just offering the original price because (1) it might be what the seller wanted all along and they used the new price for psychological benefit and (2) it looks like it needs some work.

Thanks!