The playbook for selling a home has changed fast. Buyers have more options, more leverage, and they are using it. Active housing inventory rose more than 16% year-over-year in 2025 — one of the largest annual increases since the pandemic-era crunch.¹ At the same time, 62% of homebuyers in 2025 paid below the original list price, the highest share since 2019, with the average discount hitting 7.9%, the biggest in over a decade.²
What does that mean for sellers? It means the “list it, snap a few photos, and wait” era is over. Today’s buyer is more informed, more cautious, and more willing to walk away when something feels unclear, overpriced, or risky. The listings that win are not necessarily the biggest or the newest — they’re the ones that remove
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