The number I keep looking at this month isn't the price. It's the days on market column. A lot of the homes I'm pulling up right now have been listed 30, 40, sometimes 60 days, and that changes how the whole conversation goes.
Here's what's shifting. When a home sits past a month, sellers start getting flexible in ways they weren't this spring. Not always on price. Sometimes the list price stays put and the seller agrees to cover part of your closing costs instead. That's a seller credit, and I'm seeing them show up in deals again after a couple of years where even asking for one felt almost rude.
For a first time buyer this is a big deal. Say you're looking at a place around $650,000. Closing costs on that can land somewhere in the $12,000 to $18,000 range depending on your loan and where you're buying. A seller credit of $10,000 covers a real chunk of that, and you keep your cash for the move, the couch, the water heater that decides to quit the second week. Your mortgage payment stays the same because the price didn't drop. Your bank account just looks a lot healthier at closing.
If you're selling, I'll be honest, I'd rather you offer a credit than cut the price. A price cut shows up on every listing site with a little red arrow and buyers read that as blood in the water. A credit is quiet. It solves the buyer's cash problem, it keeps your comps intact for the neighborhood, and it costs you less than the price drop you'd need to get the same reaction.
I don't have some secret system for this. I just read the days on market number and the price history before I write an offer, and then I ask. That's really it. The worst a seller says is no, and this quarter they're saying no a lot less than they were in April.
One thing I'd push back on. Some buyers hear that credits are back and go in asking for the moon on a home that's been listed six days with two other offers already in. That's not the same situation. Fresh listing, multiple offers, you're back to spring rules. Save the ask for the ones that have been sitting.
So if you've been waiting on the sidelines, pull up a few listings you liked back in June and check how long they've been there. Then shoot me a note and we'll go look. Sounds good?