Many sellers think pricing over market value gives them room to negotiate or that the market is so frothy that buyers will overpay for a home just to get one… 

In reality? Buyers have access to more market data than ever before. They’ve done their research, they understand home values, and they move FAST! Fast to move forward and just as fast to move on. If your home is overpriced, they scroll right past AND once you miss that initial wave of attention, you don’t get it back.

The median days-on-the market for Dane County is 9 days, so the First 7–10 Days Are Everything.

When your home makes it into the MLS, it gets a surge of attention:

• Agents are alerted
• Email and text notifications reach buyers who have searches set up for homes just like yours!
• It shows up on search engines like Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.

If your price is even slightly off, those buyers don’t keep coming back to look at it – they move on. What many prospective sellers miss as they consider overshooting market value is it takes days, not weeks, for a listing to go stale.

What Happens Next?

Overpricing triggers a chain reaction:

• Less traffic → reduced chance for multiple offers
• More days on market → buyer skepticism
• Price reductions → perceived weakness 

And here’s the kicker: Once weakness is perceived, the offers get weaker as well.. 

On the flip side, when a home is priced at market value from day one, there’s a much higher probability of capturing buyers’ attention, generating more showings, increasing open house traffic, and creating the potential for multiple offers that push the price higher.

What We’re Seeing in Dane County

Right now:

• Well-priced homes are still moving quickly 
• Overpriced homes are sitting – and cutting price

We’re also seeing the sale price over list price percentage decreasing over the past 3 year.
(See Graph above)

Peak Market Conditions (Spring Competition)

• 2023: +3.7% over list
• 2024: +2.9% over list
• 2025: +1.9% over list

March Year-Over-Year (Early Spring Snapshot)

• 2023: +1.7% over list
• 2024: +1.7% over list
• 2025: +1.1% over list
• 2026: +0.5% over list

What This Means (Simple Takeaway) – Just a few years ago, in peak season, buyers were in a frenzy and consistently paid close to 4% over asking price.

Last year, that number was cut by half and the March over March data shows that the trend is continuing into this year.

The data is clear: Overpricing is becoming riskier.

The Bottom Line – The goal isn’t to price high.

It’s to price strategically – so you:

• Capture attention early
• Create excitement and demand
• Ideally, create competition
• Maximize your final sale price

Because in today’s market if you miss the first wave of buyers, you move from offense to defense.

Here at The 608 Team, we specialize in diving deep into market data in order to create pricing strategies that attract more buyers, helping you sell for the most money in the least amount of time!

Thinking of selling now or in the future, contact The 608 Team at 608-535-9695 or at info@the608team.com – We’d love to be in your corner!