Home Sellers Shift Pricing Strategy From High To Middle Range

According to a January survey by Redfin, more home sellers are pricing their homes in a middle range – and fewer sellers are pricing high – than the results showed in a similar survey from October of last year. This article from Redfin’s Jon Whitely highlights the shift in pricing strategy.  Home sellers this season are taking a more grounded approach to pricing than they did in the fall, as buyers grow more selective and less willing to overpay.  Full Article

In a Redfin survey last month, 57 percent of home sellers said their strategy was to price their property in a middle range, an increase of 7 points from our October survey. Thirty-two percent said they would price high, down from 34 percent.

“We’ve seen a shift in the right direction toward pricing in the middle range to better encourage multiple offers,” said Will Fassinger, a Redfin agent in Atlanta. “There’s always the fear of becoming a stale listing that scares buyers off or pricing so low that you don’t attract the right buyers. We advise sellers that we don’t have to negotiate a ton to get the preferred price.”

Sixty-seven percent of sellers think prices will increase a little in 2016.  Seven percent think home prices will increase a lot, only a slight change from our October survey.

A greater share of survey respondents, 48 percent, said now is an OK time to sell in their neighborhood. Ten percent said now is a bad time to sell, down from 13 percent in our prior survey.