The results of our study tell a more nuanced story than simply saying sellers should or should not reduce their price. Many listings that failed to sell did, in fact, reduce their asking price. However, listings that never required a price reduction experienced higher success rates, shorter marketing times, and ultimately remained much closer to their original asking price. The evidence suggests that while price reductions are often necessary, correct pricing from the beginning remains the strongest pricing strategy.

This study analyzed every listing in the Coastal Carolinas MLS with a final status of Sold, Expired, or Withdrawn between January 1 and July 29, 2026.

Total Listings Analyzed: 15,981

• Sold: 10,623
• Expired: 2,385
• Withdrawn: 2,973

For each listing, the following pricing information was analyzed:

• Original List Price
• Final Asking Price
• Sold Price (when applicable)
• Days on Market

Key Finding #1: Listings That Never Required a Price Reduction Were More Successful

Listings that never reduced their asking price experienced an observed sold rate approximately 11 percentage points higher than listings that required a price reduction.

This does not prove that reducing a price causes a listing to fail. More likely, price reductions identify properties that were already struggling because of price, condition, location, competition, or other market factors.

However, the data clearly shows that later price reductions did not fully overcome the disadvantages associated with the original pricing strategy.

Key Finding #2: Price Reductions Were Common Among Listings That Failed

One of the biggest surprises in the study is that most failed listings did lower their price.

This finding changes the conversation.

It is incorrect to conclude that properties failed simply because sellers refused to lower their asking price.

Instead, the data suggests that many sellers did reduce their asking price, but either:

• reduced too late
• did not reduce enough
• remained above competing listings
• or faced other marketability challenges that pricing alone could not overcome

Key Finding #3: Price Reductions Were Associated with Much Longer Marketing Times

Among sold listings:

Properties requiring a price reduction spent a median of 78 additional days on the market, more than twice as long as properties that sold without reducing their asking price.

The MLS data does not identify when reductions occurred, but it clearly demonstrates that listings requiring a price adjustment generally experienced significantly longer marketing periods.

Key Finding #4: Most of the Pricing Concession Occurred Before the Offer

Among sold listings:

This may be the most important finding in the study.

Regardless of whether a property reduced its asking price, buyers ultimately paid approximately 97–98% of the final asking price.

The significant difference occurred before the offer, as sellers adjusted their asking price closer to market value.

For listings requiring a reduction:

• Median Original Price → Sold Price difference: $28,000
• Median Final Asking Price → Sold Price difference: $7,500

In other words, sellers generally made much larger pricing concessions during the marketing period than during buyer negotiations. This means, that until your property is listed with in a few percentage points of market value, you are probably not going to get attention from buyers resulting in showings and offers. 

Key Finding #5: Larger Price Reductions Were Associated with Longer Marketing Times

The relationship between reduction size and observed sold rate is not perfectly linear. However, one trend is unmistakable:

The greater the eventual reduction from the original asking price, the longer the property remained on the market.

Listings requiring reductions of 10% or more experienced a median marketing period of nearly 200 days, compared with only 78 days for listings that never reduced their asking price.

What This Analysis Tells Us

The data supports several important conclusions:

• Listings that never required a price reduction achieved higher observed success rates.
• Properties requiring price reductions remained on the market significantly longer.
• Most pricing concessions occurred before buyers submitted acceptable offers.
• Buyer negotiations after the final asking price were relatively small and remarkably consistent.
• Price reductions alone did not guarantee success, as most failed listings had already reduced their asking price.

What This Study Does Not Prove

This study does not prove that lowering a price causes a listing to fail. While price is the single most important component of a listing, every property is influenced by numerous factors, including:

• Condition
• Location
• Competition
• Market conditions
• Property features
• Financing considerations
• Seller motivation

However, correctly pricing your property will overcome every other factor. It’s the great thing about price: not only is it the most important factor when selling your home, it’s a factor that you control. 

Conclusion

Listings that entered the market with a pricing strategy requiring little or no adjustment generally experienced higher success rates, shorter marketing periods, and smaller overall pricing concessions than listings that required later corrections. Price reductions remain an important tool when market conditions require them. However, this study demonstrates that waiting to discover market value often resulted in longer marketing times and larger overall concessions than pricing competitively from the beginning, not to mention the carrying costs of paying a mortgage, taxes and utilities on a property you want to sell. For today's sellers, the goal should not be to price low.

The goal should be to price accurately.

If you have questions or would like to talk through your specific scenario, please don’t hesitate to ask us for help. We would love to learn more about goals and see how we can help you achieve them!