SEATTLE – May 29, 2019 – Homes get 3.4 times more online views the day they’re listed than they do on the day the seller drops the price, according to a new report.

The analysis looked at more than 1.2 million listings’ daily page views by potential buyers relative to the listing date and the date of the first price drop.

“It’s critical to price your home to sell from the start,” says Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather who conducted the study. “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. [emphasis added] 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.”

A home listing viewed by 100 buyers online on its first day receives an average of just 17 daily views after 30 days on the market. Dropping the price boosts that to 29 views, but the bump only lasts a single day. The day after a price drop, the home’s views fall back down to 18 per day.

Online views of home listings drop off steeply after the first day, with half as many visits on day two and a quarter as many after a week on the market.

During the four-week period ending May 19, nearly a quarter (24.2%) of homes for sale had a price drop, up from 21% a year earlier but down from the 30% record high posted last October.

It’s increasingly important to make a home as appealing as possible to the most serious buyers, who often receive alerts when a home is first listed.

“It can be tempting for a seller to price their home a little high to avoid leaving money on the table,” says Seattle Realtor Dorothee Graham. “If we have to drop the price, I’ll run a new comparative market analysis (CMA) so the seller can see how much similar homes nearby are listing and selling for. Then I offer to take them in person to tour those properties so they understand where their home should be priced.”

Graham says she also pulls a list of everything available in the seller’s price range. “I’m recommending so they can see what else is out there, regardless of property type, size and condition, because this is how buyers are searching,” adds Graham. “A seller might want to reduce their price by just $10,000 to $15,000, but I advise that this won’t work unless it puts them in a different price bracket. When you do a price drop, it has to be meaningful.”

© 2019 Florida Realtors