Sellers are cutting prices at the highest rate in years
“Today’s buyers have enough options that they can afford to be picky, so it’s critical for sellers to price correctly and attract buyers from the get-go,” said Chandra Gordon, a Redfin Premier agent in Seattle, where 24.3% of sellers are currently cutting prices, above the national average.
“But I meet a lot of sellers whose instinct is to do the opposite. They’ll say, ‘let’s price higher so we have room to negotiate down.’ I understand the reasoning, but overpricing a home is a fast way to deter buyers. Pricing in line with the market from day one is the best way for sellers to meet buyers where they are, rather than watch their listing go stale.”
Brokers counseling buyer clients in Denver, Indianapolis, or the Texas metros have meaningful negotiating room, including below-ask offers on homes sitting more than a month, and concession requests covering repairs, closing costs, or rate buydowns.
For those advising sellers in those same markets, resetting expectations early is the clearest path to a clean close. With the housing market forecast to show slow, steady gains through 2026 according to First American, pricing discipline on both sides of the transaction will determine who moves inventory and who watches listings go stale.
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