For about three years, the housing market played by one set of rules: sellers held all the cards, buyers waived everything that wasn’t nailed down, and the words “closing cost credit” basically disappeared from the conversation.
That’s changing. And if you’re getting ready to buy or sell in 2026, you need to know what’s actually happening on the ground — not what was true two years ago, and not what your friend who sold at the peak of the frenzy is still telling you over dinner.
Here’s the headline: in a lot of markets across the country, buyers are negotiating again. Not in every market, not on every property, but enough that pretending otherwise is going to cost somebody real money. Whether that somebody is you depends entirely on which side of the deal you’re on — and whether you’ve adjusted to the new reality.
Let’s break it down.
What Actually Changed
Inventory crept up through 2025 and has continued nudging higher into 2026. Homes are sitting on the market longer — in many areas, average days on market has stretched from the 10-to-15-day range of 2022 back out to 35, 45, even 60+ days. Price drops are happening on a meaningful chunk of active listings. And concessions — the things that quietly vanished during the boom — are showing up in contracts again.
We’re not talking about a crash. Prices are still up over the long term, and well-priced homes in desirable areas still move quickly. But the leverage has shifted. Sellers can no longer assume that listing a home guarantees a bidding war. Buyers can no longer assume that asking for anything means losing the house.
That shift creates opportunity. It also creates landmines.
If You’re Buying: Stop Acting Like It’s Still 2022
A lot of buyers are still in defensive mode. They watched friends get crushed in bidding wars, write desperate love letters, waive inspections, and overpay by $40,000 just to win. So now, even with the market clearly cooling, they’re afraid to ask for anything. They’re tiptoeing into offers like they’re going to scare the house away.
Stop. The dynamics have changed. Here’s what you should actually be asking for right now in softer markets.
Seller-paid closing costs. This is the big one. On a $400,000 home, closing costs can run $8,000 to $12,000 or more. In today’s market, asking the seller to cover $5,000 to $10,000 of that is increasingly normal — especially on homes that have been sitting. That’s real cash that stays in your pocket on day one.
A rate buydown. This is often better than a price cut. Having the seller contribute toward a 2-1 temporary buydown or a permanent rate buydown can save you hundreds a month for the first couple years or for the life of the loan. Sometimes a $10,000 seller contribution toward your rate is worth more to your monthly budget than a $15,000 price reduction.
Repairs or repair credits. If the inspection turns up issues — and it almost always does — you have leverage to ask for credits or repairs. Two years ago, sellers were laughing buyers out of the room for asking. Today, they’re sharpening their pencils and getting realistic.
A reasonable price. Listings that have been sitting 45+ days are often 5% to 10% overpriced and the seller already knows it. Don’t be afraid to offer below ask on a stale listing. The worst they can say is no — and most won’t.
Home warranties, appliances, even furniture. On longer-sitting homes, sellers are surprisingly flexible on the extras. It never hurts to ask.
One important caveat though: this all depends on the property. A turnkey home in a hot neighborhood at a fair price is still going to draw multiple offers. Don’t lowball that one — you’ll lose it. But a slightly tired home that’s been sitting six weeks? That’s where the real leverage lives.
If You’re Selling: Don’t Panic, Don’t Over-Discount
Here’s where a lot of sellers are getting hurt right now. They list aggressively at 2022 pricing, watch the home sit for three weeks with no offers, panic, slash the price $25,000, and then accept a lowball offer from the first buyer who walks in. They leave $30,000 to $50,000 on the table because they treated their home like a hot potato instead of a strategic sale.
The smart move isn’t to discount your way out of a slow market — it’s to price right from day one and position the home like a pro.
Price for today’s buyer pool. Pull active comps, not just sold comps. Look at what’s sitting and what’s moving right now. The “list high and negotiate down” strategy that worked in 2022 actively hurts you in 2026 — homes that sit get stale, and stale homes get lowballed. Price it to draw real attention in the first 10 days.
Offer concessions instead of price cuts. If you do need to sweeten the deal, closing cost credits or rate buydowns are often far more attractive to today’s rate-sensitive buyers than a straight price cut. A $10,000 credit toward a buyer’s rate buydown often closes the deal when a $10,000 price reduction wouldn’t even move the needle.
Show up beautifully. In a fast market, you could list a half-cleaned home with phone photos and still get offers. Today’s buyers are picky and they have options. Professional photos, decluttering, paint touch-ups, and a handful of minor repairs before listing pay back tenfold. Don’t skip staging just because you’re trying to save money — that’s the kind of penny-wise, dollar-foolish thinking that costs sellers tens of thousands.
Don’t chase the market down. Setting your initial price too high and then chasing the market with $5,000 reductions every two weeks is the worst possible strategy. Each price cut signals weakness. Buyers smell blood and lowball you. Better to price competitively from the start than to bleed slowly in public.
Time it intentionally. Inventory is highest in summer, which means competition for buyer attention is highest then too. If you have flexibility, listing in early spring or late winter when inventory is thinner can be a meaningful advantage.
Mike Oddo, CEO of HouseJet, put it well when we were talking about this recently: “The biggest mistake people make in any market — but especially this one — is assuming today’s leverage is the same as last year’s. It’s not. Understanding where the leverage actually sits, on this property, in this neighborhood, this week, is the difference between a great deal and a frustrating one. Whether you’re buying or selling, your decisions should be based on what’s actually happening right now, not what the headlines were saying six months ago.”
The Common Thread According to HouseJet
Whether you’re on the buy side or the sell side, the lesson is the same: this market rewards people who pay attention and punishes people who operate on outdated assumptions.
Buyers who keep waiting for “the perfect market” miss it when leverage actually shifts in their favor. Sellers who keep pricing like it’s 2022 watch their homes sit, then panic-discount to buyers who would’ve happily paid more if the home had been positioned properly. Both of them lose real money — buyers in missed savings, sellers in left-on-the-table value.
The buyers and sellers winning right now are the ones who walked in clear-eyed about today’s conditions, ran the numbers, and negotiated based on the actual leverage of their specific situation. Not yesterday’s market. Not the neighbor’s story. Theirs.
That’s exactly the kind of clarity HouseJet works to put in the hands of today’s buyers and sellers — helping you see your real leverage in your real market, so you can negotiate from a position of knowledge instead of guesswork or fear.
The market shifted. The rules shifted with it. Make sure your strategy shifted too.
