Four weeks. That’s the precious window that homesellers and their agents have to get the asking price — or be forced to begin price cuts.
Realtor.com analyzed home deed records, multiple listing service (MLS) records, and proprietary listing history data and found that homes that close at or before the four-week mark sell for 1.8 percent more than homes that sell at the average days on market (52).
Meanwhile, homes that sit on the market for 18 weeks or more sell for 1.3 percent less, representing a 3-percentage-point spread between the best- and worst-performing listings.
Joel Berner | Credit: Realtor.com
“The pandemic gave sellers a free pass on pricing, and that pass has expired,” Realtor.com Senior Economist Joel Berner said in the report on Thursday. “Today, an overpriced home doesn’t just sit — it gets stale, loses leverage and sells for less than it would have if it had been priced right from the start.”
Price reductions peak at the four-week mark, two weeks earlier than spring 2021.
These reductions are most common in the South and West, which Realtor.com said is still in “buyer-friendly territory.” The Midwest, which is in the midst of a boom in demand, is on track for a seasonal sale-to-list ratio above 1 later this year.
The Northeast is the outlier, the only region in the country where the average listing still sells above asking.
“Inventory explains the divide. Many Southern and Western metros now have more homes for sale than before the pandemic,” the report read. “With more options, buyers are under less pressure — and sale prices reflect that. In the Northeast and Midwest, supply has not recovered, and sellers retain more of the leverage they’ve held since 2020.”
Housing type also makes a difference, with condo and townhome owners more likely to make a price cut. As of March 2026, the average condo sold for 97.9 percent of its final list price, compared to 99.2 percent for single-family homes.
Condo list prices have also fallen 6 percent since March 2022, the report said, while single-family list prices have grown 7.5 percent — a 13.5-point spread.
Berner said Realtor.com’s analysis underscores the importance of choosing the right asking price, now that buyers have more inventory to choose from than they’ve had in years. Homebuilders are also upping the ante by offering a smorgasbord of concessions and incentives.
“We’ve gone from a market where sellers could price aggressively and still get above asking, to one where overpricing has real consequences,” Berner said. “Buyers have more leverage than they’ve had in years, and that shows up clearly in the data.”
“Price it right and buyers come to you. Price it wrong and you’re chasing them,” he added. “Four weeks in, the market has already delivered its verdict — you’ve either got competing offers or you’re about to cut your price.”
