The Week In Review: November 3rd, 2026

Timing

One thing we don’t discuss enough when talking about a home’s market value is the buyer pool: who is looking and when.

In my experience, buyers often develop a real sense of value after walking through half a dozen homes. Comparable sales show what similar homes have sold for, but they are historical data; they don’t account for what buyers are seeing today. After a few showings, buyers can often walk into a home and have a gut sense of whether its price makes sense.

That’s one reason days on market can be misleading. When a house has been on the market for 30 days or more, I’m usually asked, “Why hasn’t it sold yet?” Yes, it may be overpriced or have a genuine flaw. But it may also be waiting for the right buyer to enter the market, or for a buyer who is already looking to see enough of the competition to recognize its value.

Every fall, I talk with buyers who plan to wait for the spring market, which confusingly begins in February. They expect more inventory, better rates or simply a better time to act. But when February arrives, many buyers begin looking at once. They compete, compromise and sometimes bid prices higher, creating comparable sales that shape expectations for the next round of buyers and sellers.

That’s one of the fascinating things about real estate: a transaction doesn’t just reflect the market. It helps make the market. A home that might have sold for $2.4 million a few months earlier could sell for $2.6 million when more buyers are competing. That sale may influence what the next seller expects and what the next buyer is willing to pay.

Market value isn’t a fixed number waiting to be discovered by an agent, an algorithm or a set of comparable sales. It is influenced by the people participating in the market, their circumstances, their expectations and their timing.

Buyers and sellers are the market, and the market depends on who is in it.

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