Pricing right in a buyer-leverage market

Sellers who price based on what their home means to them almost always sit longer than sellers who price based on what the market says it is worth.

That gap between attachment and data is the most expensive mistake a seller can make right now in the Phoenix metro.

Here is what the comps are actually telling you.

When a buyer's agent pulls comparables in the Valley today, they are looking at closed sales within the last 90 days, ideally within a half mile of your property, similar square footage and lot size, similar age and condition. That is the universe that defines your home's market value. Not what you paid. Not what you spent on the remodel. Not what your neighbor listed for.

The comps are also showing something else this year: concessions. Buyer closing cost credits, rate buydowns, repair allowances. When buyers have options, they negotiate. That means a $500,000 list price with a $12,000 concession is functionally a $488,000 sale. The market is pricing those concessions in whether you plan for them or not.

Pricing over the comps does not protect your number. It costs you more days on market, which costs you negotiating leverage, which costs you the very equity you were trying to hold onto.

The sellers who come out strongest right now are the ones who price at or just below what the comps support, generate early traffic, and close with minimal concession drag. The sellers who price from attachment tend to chase the market down over 60 to 90 days and end up netting less anyway.

Your home's value is real. The upgrades count. The neighborhood counts. The condition counts. But the number that matters is the number a ready buyer will write on a contract today, based on what else they can buy in the same zip code.

That is the conversation worth having before you list, not after.

Jon Hegreness, REALTOR / Associate Broker, Howe Realty
(623) 826-0888 . JonHegreness@gmail.com . License BR540940000
9059 W Lake Pleasant Pkwy, B-200, Peoria, AZ 85382
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