Online Home Listings Get Fewer Hits After Price Slashing

Homes put up for sale get more than 3.4 more online views on the day they are listed than they do the day the seller drops the price, according to a new report from Redfin.

 

In an analysis of more than 1.2 million listings, Redfin found the average number of views each listing received per day on the market, relative to the listing date and the date of the first price drop. For example, a home for sale that is viewed by 100 buyers online in its first day receives an average of just 17 views per day after 30 days on the market. Dropping the price only boosts that to 29 views, and the bump only lasts a single day. The day after a price drop, the home's views fall back down to just 18 per day. And during the four-week period ending May 19, roughly one-quarter of homes for sale had a price drop, up from 21 percent a year earlier, but down from the 30 percent record high posted last October.

 

"It's critical to price your home to sell from the start," said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. "Fair or not, buyers judge a home by how many days it has been on the market. A home that has been on the market for more than a few weeks has a scarlet letter on it, and buyers will wonder why no one else wanted to buy it. Dropping the price can help get your home onto the radar of some buyers who are searching for homes priced just below the original price, but you likely won't be able to regain the appeal of a newly listed home."

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