August 11, 2025

The Market Is Shifting – And Why That Can Be a Good Thing

A changing market isn’t a threat—it’s your chance to stand out, win listings, and prove your value when it matters most.

Let’s get right to it: the market is changing. You can feel it in the listings that are sitting longer. You can see it in the price adjustments we didn’t have to talk about a year ago. If you’ve been paying attention, you knew this shift was coming—and if you’ve been in the business more than five years, this might feel familiar.

But for newer agents—or for those who’ve forgotten what a “normal” market looks like—this moment might feel uncomfortable. Maybe even downright scary.

This Market? It’s Normal.

For the past several years, we’ve been in a frenzied, lightning-fast seller’s market. Homes were flying off the shelf like candy the day after Halloween. But that’s not how a balanced real estate market is supposed to work.

A normal market? That’s when listings take 60 to 90 days to sell. Not three. Not five. Not twelve hours. Sixty to ninety days.

So, if your listing has been on the market a few weeks, don’t panic. Pay attention? Absolutely. But don’t start spiraling in fear. What we’ve been experiencing isn’t normal. What we’re starting to see now is. And guess what? It’s not just okay—it’s actually better for your business.

The Candy Store Analogy—With a Twist

In a hot market, listings disappear faster than you can say, “Under contract.” That might feel exciting, but it creates a real problem: you have no inventory. Imagine you’re running a candy store. Kids keep running in and buying everything on the shelves. If you don’t restock fast enough, you’re left with empty shelves and no sales. That’s what it’s been like in real estate.

When listings sell in a blink, we lose our biggest marketing tools. Your listings are your inventory—and more importantly, they’re your opportunity. They’re your billboard, your social media post, your mailer, your reason to knock on a neighbor’s door.

When homes stay on the market a little longer, you gain visibility. You gain time to work that listing and to leverage it into buyers, referrals, and other sellers. That’s a blessing—not a burden.

You get to:

Use the For Sale sign as free advertising.

Feature the home in targeted mailers.

Post and repost on social media.

Hold open houses, collect buyers, and stir up seller conversations.

You now have a reason to call people, and instead of scrambling to replace sold listings, you now have time to market, build relationships, and fill your pipeline.

Talking to Sellers in a Shifting Market

Now, let’s talk about price. Because this is where many agents hit a wall—especially when dealing with sellers who are clinging to last year’s headlines. They don’t want to lower their price. They don’t want to “lose money.” But here’s what we have to help them understand:

You can’t lose something you never had.

Let’s say the home is worth $500,000. But the seller wants to list at $650,000 “just to see what happens.” Two months go by, and you’ve gotten nothing but crickets. You finally convince them to drop it to $500K.

Now they’re upset—“We just lost $150,000!” No, they didn’t. That number was never real. You might as well have said $1 million. That doesn’t make it true. Just because it’s printed on the flyer doesn’t mean it’s the value.

It’s like trying to sell a stock at $220 when the market is trading it at $200. You can list it all day long at $220, but unless the market supports it, it’s not going to move.

Pricing real estate is no different. We price based on what the market will bear—not wishful thinking.

The Realtor’s Advantage: Real-Time Buyer Insight

Now here’s something you can use the next time a seller throws Zillow or another Automated Valuation Model in your face: even appraisers don’t have access to what you, as a real estate professional, do.

See, they’re looking at square footage, beds, baths, and sold prices. But you? You have access to something no computer algorithm can touch—real buyers, real conversations, and real-time insight into what today’s buyers are saying, feeling, and rejecting.

This is your secret weapon. You know what’s selling because you’re showing properties. You’re talking to buyers. You’re hearing things like, “We want an open concept,” or “We hate popcorn ceilings,” or “We’d never live near a busy road.” You’re right there with them when they’re looking at homes.

That’s live, boots-on-the-ground feedback. That’s the edge you bring to the table.

So the next time someone says, “But there are no comps,” you say, “Exactly. That’s why you need a pro.”

How to Back Yourself Up with Data

If you really want to make a point during a pricing conversation, here’s what I recommend: start looking at the headlines. Literally. Go to Google. Type in “United States real estate market” and click on the “News” tab. You’ll find credible sources like JP Morgan, Forbes, Fast Company, Moody’s, and CNBC reporting on the cooling market, builder price cuts, and inventory spikes.

Print the headlines, screenshot the quotes, and show them to your sellers. You can say: “Here’s Fast Company quoting Moody’s Chief Economist saying home prices are declining and the trend is spreading.”

You don’t need a 30-page market report. You need one reputable headline that makes your case. Because people trust names they recognize—Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, JP Morgan. Use that credibility.

Final Thought: This Is the Time to Shine

You want the truth? This shifting market is where real agents get to shine. This is when professionals rise, and the unskilled get quiet. When things are easy, everyone looks like a rockstar. But when the market adjusts, you need skills, you need strategies, and you need the right perspective.

So, embrace this market. Own your expertise. Leverage every listing. Show your clients that you’re not just a sign in the yard—you’re the value in the transaction.

Let the part-timers panic. You? You’re just getting started.

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