Selling

The $27,000 Pricing Gap: What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know

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If you’re planning to buy or sell a home in 2025, there’s a key trend you need to know: buyers and sellers aren’t seeing eye to eye on price. A recent Clever Real Estate survey revealed a $27,000 gap between what buyers expect to pay and what sellers hope to get. Buyers are budgeting around $386,507, while sellers are aiming for $413,976.

So, what’s driving this pricing gap, and how can you navigate it? Let’s break it down.

What’s Behind the $27,000 Pricing Gap?

Sellers Are Riding High on Confidence

After years of rising home prices, sellers are entering 2025 with optimism. In fact, 74% of sellers believe they’ll sell at or above asking price. However, with market conditions stabilizing, these high expectations may not always align with buyer budgets.

Buyers Are Feeling the Pinch

On the flip side, buyers are grappling with rising mortgage rates and affordability challenges. Nearly 68% worry escalating prices will delay their purchase plans. Budget constraints often lead to tougher negotiations or missed opportunities.

While 87% of buyers and sellers expect strong demand in 2025, housing economists predict smaller price increases compared to previous years. This stabilization could mean buyers have more negotiating power, while sellers might need to rethink pricing strategies.

Tips for Buyers: How to Bridge the Gap

Navigating the $27,000 gap can feel overwhelming, but these strategies can help:

  • Know Your Market: Research local home prices and trends. Being informed gives you an edge in negotiations.
  • Be Flexible: If you can’t meet the asking price, consider other ways to sweeten your offer, like flexible closing dates or waived contingencies.
  • Leverage Stabilizing Prices: Slower price growth in 2025 could work in your favor during negotiations.

Tips for Sellers: Attracting the Right Offers

Sellers, getting top dollar means setting realistic expectations and preparing your home to shine. Here’s how:

  • Price Strategically: Partner with a local real estate expert to price your home competitively. Nearly 49% of agents agree pricing is the key to a quick sale.
  • Stage Your Home: Professional staging or high-quality photos can help justify your asking price.
  • Stay Open to Negotiations: Flexibility can mean the difference between a quick sale and a prolonged listing.

What the Pricing Gap Means for the 2025 Real Estate Market

The $27,000 pricing gap highlights a broader trend in the housing market: cautious buyers versus confident sellers. Bridging this gap will require both sides to adjust their expectations. For buyers, it’s about realistic budgeting and smart negotiations. For sellers, it’s understanding market trends and pricing your property to attract serious offers.

With the right strategies and a little compromise, 2025 could be a great year for both buyers and sellers.

TL;DR

  • Buyers expect to spend $386,507, while sellers aim for $413,976—a $27,000 pricing gap.
  • Sellers are confident, but buyers are cautious due to rising costs and mortgage rates.
  • Strategic planning and realistic expectations are key for navigating the 2025 real estate market.

Are you ready to tackle the 2025 housing market? Let’s work together to achieve your goals!

We’re in a Sellers’ Market. What Does That Mean?

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Even though activity in the housing market has slowed from the frenzy we saw over a year ago, today’s low supply of homes for sale is still a sellers’ market. But what does that really mean? And why are conditions today so good if you want to list your house?

It starts with the number of homes available for sale. The latest Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows housing supply is still astonishingly low. Today, we have a 2.6-month supply of homes at the current sales pace. Historically, a 6-month supply is necessary for a ‘normal’ or ‘neutral’ market in which there are enough homes available for active buyers (see graph below):

What Does This Mean for You?

When the supply of homes for sale is as low as it is right now, it’s much harder for buyers to find one to purchase. That creates increased competition among purchasers and keeps upward pressure on prices. And if buyers know they’re not the only one interested in a home, they’re going to do their best to submit a very attractive offer. As this happens, sellers are positioned to negotiate deals that meet their ideal terms. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR, says:

“Inventory levels are still at historic lows. Consequently, multiple offers are returning on a good number of properties.”

Right now, there are still buyers who are ready, willing, and able to purchase a home. If you list your house right now in good condition and at the right price, it could get a lot of attention from competitive buyers.

Bottom Line

Today’s sellers’ market holds great opportunities for homeowners ready to make a move. Listing your house now will maximize your exposure to serious, competitive buyers. Let’s connect to discuss how to jumpstart the selling process.

4 Key Tips for Selling Your House This Spring

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Spring has arrived, and that means more and more people are getting their homes ready to sell. But with recent shifts in real estate, this year’s spring housing market will be different from the frenzy of the past several years. To sell your house quickly, without hassles, and for the most money, be sure to follow these four simple tips:

1. Make Sure You Give Buyers Access

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a seller is limiting the days and times when buyers have access to view your home. In any market, if you want to maximize the sale of your house, you can’t limit potential buyers’ access to view it. If it’s not accessible, it could cost you by sitting on the market longer and ultimately selling for a lower price.

2. Make Your Home Look as Good as Possible on the Inside

For anything to sell, especially your home, it must look inviting. Your real estate agent can give you expert advice on ideal staging for your home. Even updating a room with fresh paint, steam cleaning carpets, or removing clutter from the garage can make a big impact.

3. First Impressions Matter

The old saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” matters when selling your house. Often, the first impression a buyer gets is what they see as they walk up to the front door. Putting in the work in on the exterior of your home is just as important as what you stage inside. Freshen up your landscaping to improve your home’s curb appeal so you can make an impact with potential buyers.

4. Price It Right

This is probably the most important aspect of selling your home in today’s real estate market. If a house is priced competitively, it’s going to sell. Period. To do this, you have to know what’s happening with home prices in your area and understand the factors that are affecting the market right now. That’s why it’s best to work with a trusted real estate professional who can ensure you list your house at the right price.

Bottom Line

Everyone selling their home wants three things: to sell it for the most money they can, to do it in a certain amount of time, and to do all of that with the fewest hassles. To accomplish these goals, let’s connect so you can understand the steps you need to take to sell your home this spring. 

Get Ready: The Best Time To List Your House Is Almost Here

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If you’re thinking about selling this spring, it’s time to get moving – the best week to list your house is fast approaching.

Experts at realtor.com looked at seasonal trends from recent years (excluding 2020 as an uncharacteristic year due to the onset of the pandemic) and determined the ideal week to list a house this year:

“Home sellers on the fence waiting for that perfect moment to sell should start preparations, because the best time to list a home in 2023 is approaching quickly. The week of April 16-22 is expected to have the ideal balance of housing market conditions that favor home sellers, more so than any other week in the year.”

If you’ve been waiting for the best time to sell, this is your chance. But remember, before you put your house on the market, you’ve got to get it ready. And if you haven’t started that process yet, you’ll need to move quickly. Here’s what you should keep in mind.

Work with an Agent To Determine Which Updates To Make

Start by prioritizing which updates you’ll make. In February, realtor.com asked more than 1,200 recent or potential home sellers what updates they ended up making to their house before listing it (see graph below):

As you can see, the most common answers included landscaping and painting. Work with a trusted real estate agent to determine what projects make the most sense for your goals and local market.

If Possible, Plan To Have Your House Staged

Once you’ve made any necessary repairs and updates to your house, consider having it staged. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 82% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. Additionally, almost half of buyers’ agents said home staging had an effect on most buyers’ view of the home in general. Homes that are staged typically sell faster and for a higher price because they help potential buyers more easily picture their new life in the house.

Bottom Line

Are you ready to sell this spring? Let’s connect to plan your next steps. You can start by making a checklist of what you think your house needs to get ready. Then, we can work together to prioritize your list and move forward together.

The Role of Access in Selling Your House

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Once you’ve made the decision to sell your house and have hired a real estate agent to help, they’ll ask how much access to your home you want to give potential buyers. Your answer matters more now than it did in recent years. Here’s why.

At the height of the buying frenzy seen during the pandemic, there was a rise in the number of homebuyers who put offers on houses sight unseen. That happened for three reasons:

  • Extremely low housing inventory
  • A lot of competition from other buyers wanting to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates
  • And general wariness of in-person home tours during a pandemic

Today, the market’s changing, and buyers can usually be more selective and take more time to explore their options.

So, in order to show your house and sell it efficiently, you’ll want to provide buyers with as much access as you can. Before letting your agent know what works for you, consider these five levels of access you can provide. They’re ordered from most convenient for a buyer to least convenient. Remember, your agent will be better able to sell your house if you provide as much access to buyers as possible.

  1. Lockbox on the Door – This allows buyers the ability to see the home as soon as they are aware of the listing or at their convenience.
  2. Providing a Key to the Home – This would require an agent to stop by an office to pick up the key, which is still pretty convenient for a buyer.
  3. Open Access with a Phone Call – This means you allow a showing with just a phone call’s notice.
  4. By Appointment Only – For example, you might want your agent to set up a showing at a particular time and give you advance notice. That way you can prepare the house and be sure you have somewhere else you can go in the meantime.
  5. Limited Access – This might mean you’re only willing to have your house available on certain days or at certain times of day. In general, this is the most difficult and least flexible way to show your house to potential buyers.

As today’s housing market changes, be sure to work with your local agent to give buyers as much access as you can to your house when you sell.

Bottom Line

Access can have a big impact on the sale of your house. Let’s connect today if you’re ready to make a move this spring.

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