Home Selling? Is Your Asking Price Too High?

41% of homes nationally needed a price drop before getting an offer, according to Redfin.
In Las Vegas, overpriced homes sit an average of 42 days vs. just 19 for well-priced ones.
Listings with strong initial pricing often receive multiple offers, some above asking.
Homes priced too high miss out on search filters and reduce online visibility.
With mortgage rates over 7%, buyers can afford less, making pricing more important.

In today’s housing market, setting the right asking price isn’t just about meeting an estimated value. It’s about knowing how buyers think, understanding local trends, and seeing how online tools work. These things can make or break your sale. Especially in markets like Las Vegas, overpricing a home can kill your sale. It can lead to homes sitting unsold, losing interest, and selling for less in the end. This article looks at how to set the right price, what happens if you price too high, and how to price your home to get good offers quickly.

How Homebuyers Think: Why Price Matters More Than Ever

Today’s homebuyers know a lot. They use digital tools and are careful with money. This is even more true because rising interest rates mean their money buys less. Buyers now are not as emotional as they were in past hot markets. Instead, they use online tools a lot. They check values in neighborhoods they like with research, mortgage calculators, and daily alerts.

With 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaging above 7%, buyers feel the strain. A home listed $25,000 too high could add an extra $150–$250 per month to their mortgage. These numbers can instantly make a property too expensive for serious buyers. Today’s buyer isn’t just dreaming about features. They’re calculating monthly payments, insurance, and property taxes.

If you price too high, you might miss out on good buyers. These are buyers who could afford the home if the price matched what the market expects now.

National Trends: Overpriced Homes Aren’t Selling

The housing market does not like unrealistic prices. According to a March 2025 report from Redfin, 41% of homes nationally had to drop their prices before they received offers. This shows that pricing homes wrong when they are first listed is common. And it really costs sellers money.

Why is this so important? Think about how buyers look at homes. When new listings go live, real estate websites show them clearly. This is when your home gets seen the most. Buyers who are serious often set up alerts on sites like Redfin, Zillow, and Realtor.com. This is when they are most likely to see your home. If the asking price is off by even 5%, your listing may not even appear in those filtered alerts.

Moreover, dropping the price many times makes buyers think the home is worth less. Instead of thinking “what a good deal,” many buyers think “what’s wrong with it?” or “how low will they go?” Homes that stay on the market a long time can get a bad name. This means fewer people come to see them. It also means sellers have less power to negotiate the price. And in the end, the sale price is lower than it should have been.

Las Vegas Lens: What Steve Hawks Sees on the Ground

Steve Hawks is an experienced real estate agent in Las Vegas. He knows the local market very well after many years. His findings are like what’s happening across the country. But they also show that smaller local areas act in their own ways.

Look at homes priced above the average for the market. Steve’s record shows that those homes often sit unsold for more than 60 days. But compare that to homes priced well. Many get offers in the first two weeks. Some even get offers above the asking price because buyers compete.

Steve Hawks sees pricing not just as a set number. He sees it as something that helps connect with buyers. He has a way of pricing that considers how buyers feel. But it also respects the real value shown by data. According to Steve, “A home priced to make buyers want to act fast almost always sells better than one that tries to see how high the price can go.” In popular parts of Las Vegas, like Summerlin or Green Valley, he tries to list homes in a way that makes buyers think, “We need to move fast.”

The Cost of Overpricing: Missed Opportunities and Time Lost

Wasting time is a big problem when selling a home. In real estate, “Days on Market” (DOM) clearly shows if a property is wanted and selling well. If a home stays on the market for many days, it makes the listing look less good.

Each day without an offer means your listing loses some energy. New online shoppers will see the lingering listing and wonder what’s wrong. Also, agents might not even show it if they don’t think it will sell easily. And the longer the home sits, the more power the buyer gets. The buyer sees it as a possible bargain. This happens even if the price was only a little too high at first.

Dropping the price is sometimes needed. But it often does not bring back all the value lost during that important early time. Data from Zillow shows that homes that receive price cuts sell for about 2% less than those that do not. On a $500,000 house, that’s a $10,000 hit. This is often more than the amount the home was overpriced by in the beginning.

Strategic Pricing vs. Reactive Discounting

Getting the price right when you first list is much better than changing it later. Setting the price well means you act first. It places your home right where buyers want it. This is where demand, how buyers feel, and competition meet. It makes buyers feel they need to act fast so they don’t miss the home. Often, this leads to many offers if your home is in a popular spot.

Changing the price later is exactly the opposite. When a listing isn’t doing well, you have to drop the price. This becomes a way to just try and save the sale. You are not leading the process anymore. You are just trying to get back to where you were. Buyers see price drops as a sign the seller is needing to sell, and many will wait to see if more cuts will come.

Steve Hawks uses a different way of pricing. He calls it “value-first listing.” His team does not price homes based on feelings or guesses. Instead, they price them below certain price points that buyers notice. Marketers call this creating a “value perception.” This way of pricing often puts a home just under popular search price levels (like $499,999 instead of $500,000). This means more people see it and more buyers respond.

How Agents Use Data to Get It Right

The best agents do not just guess. They use detailed data to help decide every price they suggest. Here are some tools Steve Hawks and his team use to set the right price

Comparative Market Analyses (CMAs): These look at homes like yours that sold recently in your area. They also account for things like size, age, updates, and lot size.
Absorption Rate: This shows how quickly homes are selling in your area. It helps show how many homes are for sale compared to how many people want to buy.
MLS Analytics: This is up-to-the-minute data from the Multiple Listing Service. It shows how many homes like yours are for sale, have offers, or did not sell in your area.
Buyer Behavior Metrics: This data comes from how buyers are actually acting in the market right now. It includes things like what people say at open houses, how many times a home is viewed online, and questions from agents. This helps make pricing more accurate.
Seasonal Trends: Sales data from December, for example, might show that buyers are slower. You need to consider this if you list your home in the winter.

Pricing based on data does not just help you start well. It also helps you know how to change the price quickly based on how buyers are feeling right now.

How Mortgage Rates Affect What Buyers Can Afford

People often forget to think about what buyers can really afford with today’s interest rates. But this is very important for setting the price. In the first part of 2025, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was about 7.12%. Compared to rates from 2021 and 2022 (many of which were under 3.5%), this means the same buyer now qualifies for roughly 30% less financing.

Here’s a breakdown:

Interest Rate	Monthly Payment (on $500K loan)	Approximate Buyer Budget
3.5%	~$2,245	Can afford $600K+
7.1%	~$3,370	Affordability drops to ~$475K

These numbers show why a price that’s too high is not just about wanting more money. It means serious buyers cannot afford your home. Even if the price is just a little too high, your home might not show up in online searches. And buyers might not be able to fit it into their budget at all.

What Happens Online: The Zillow and Realtor.com Effect

Imagine this: You list your home at $520K. A serious buyer sets their search alert for anything under $500K, assuming a max budget that includes taxes, HOA, and closing costs. Your home? Invisible.

Most buyers today interact with sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin. And most of their browsing is filtered. These sites show new listings first. They also show homes that fit the searches buyers have saved. And they show homes similar to ones the buyer has looked at before. If your price is just above a main price range that buyers search for, you miss out on many potential buyers.

Furthermore, homes that have been listed for many days show up lower in search results. So once you overprice and get passed over? You’re not just losing attention. You’re being hurt by the very sites built to help you sell.

Signals That Your Asking Price Is Too High

Still unsure if your current price is working against you? Look for these red flags

Many people visit the home, but you get no offers. Buyers like it at first, but they feel the price does not match what the home is worth.
Fewer people look at your home online compared to similar homes. The computer programs used by websites might be showing your listing less often.
Agents who show the home give feedback that is unclear. They are trying to gently tell you there is a problem.
Homes like yours get offers, but yours stays on the market. This shows the market does not think your home is worth the price.
Many people see the home once, but no one comes back for a second look. This is a sign that buyers are not very interested after seeing it.

It doesn’t always mean you need a big price cut. But it does mean you should plan a new way forward. This plan should use new data.

When and How to Adjust: Strategic Price Reductions

If two or three weeks go by and not many buyers are interested, and homes nearby are selling, you should rethink the price. But do not panic. Change the price in a smart way.

Steve Hawks advises paying careful attention during the 14–21 day window. That is the time when homes either start getting lots of interest or stop getting seen. If you drop the price by just 1% to 3% around this time, it can make buyers interested again. It can also help your listing show up higher in search results on major websites.

Examples of smart price changes

From $512,500 to $499,900 — this puts the home below a key price level buyers search for.
From $480,000 to $474,900 — this matches where offers are often made in the area.
From $399,000 to $389,000 — this makes buyers feel they are getting a good deal at a price many people look for.

These changes are not just about numbers. They use how buyers think to make them act.

Las Vegas Market Snapshot from Steve Hawks

Live from early 2025, here’s what’s happening in Las Vegas

The middle number of days on market is 42 for homes that needed price drops. This is compared to just 19 for those priced right from the start.
The price range with the most sales is $390K–$480K. This is very true in popular areas like Enterprise and Silverado Ranch.
How Buyers Think: Buyers are focused tightly on value. Agents say buyers feel more sure about buying—but only when homes are priced to sell quickly.

Steve’s takeaway? Price smart, act fast, and make buyers feel they need to buy because of the price. Do not price the home based on how much you like it.

Tips for Setting the Right Asking Price from Day One

To avoid having to fix the price later, start with these good ways to set the right asking price

Look at homes like yours that sold recently in the area. Older sales data will make the results wrong.
Know who your main buyer is: people buying their first home, investors, people retiring?
Use clear thinking, not feelings. Do not let ideas about value from upgrades or memories make you expect too much.
Make the home look better with staging and smart fixes before listing. But set the price based on what homes like it are truly selling for.
List the home under important price levels buyers search for (like $499,000 instead of $505,000). This helps more people see it online.

Think about this: Your price is not about what you want. It is about what the market will pay.

Price to Sell, Not to Sit

In this housing market, when you do things and how you price are everything. The right price makes buyers want the home. It makes buyers feel excited. And it gives sellers more power to negotiate. Overpricing does the opposite. It keeps buyers away. It makes the home take longer to sell. And it often means the seller gets less than they hoped.

It is very important to price your home right from the start. This is your biggest help, especially in a competitive market like Las Vegas. Do you want expert help just for your home? Contact Steve Hawks for a free look at pricing your home, with no pressure. He will also give you his extra guide: “Top 5 Mistakes Vegas Home Sellers Make.” Sign up for his YouTube channel to get weekly market information, tips for sellers, and ways that work to sell homes well.

References

Mortgage Bankers Association. (2025). MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey – February 2025. Retrieved from https://www.mba.org/news-and-research