Days on Market

Days on market, often abbreviated DOM, is the number of days a property has been actively listed for sale, typically counted from when the listing became active in the MLS to when a contract was accepted.

What's considered a normal days on market varies significantly by market conditions, location, price point, and time of year. In a fast-moving market with limited inventory, well-priced homes may go under contract in days. In a slower or more balanced market, several weeks may be entirely typical for a properly priced property. A specific number of days doesn't mean the same thing in every market.

The more useful question is not just "how many days has this home been on the market?" but "why?" A home that has been on the market for 45 days in a market where average days on market is 40 tells a different story than one sitting at 45 days in a market where average is 10.

For sellers, days on market is a signal worth monitoring. It reflects how the market is responding to the listing and when to evaluate whether the current strategy is working as intended.

Buyers who've been actively searching notice when a property has been sitting. Extended time on market can raise questions, even if the home is excellent, about pricing, condition, or other factors. This buyer psychology is worth understanding before listing, because it affects how a home's initial pricing decision plays out.

Homes that generate strong engagement early (showings, interest, and offers) tend to sell faster and at stronger prices than homes that sit and require price adjustments. This is one reason why initial pricing calibration matters so much. A well-positioned listing has the best chance of capturing buyer attention during the critical early period when a new listing generates the most activity.

When market time does extend, reviewing the strategy (pricing, presentation, or both) is the productive response. See Price Reduction for more on when and how adjustments make sense.

A home is listed at $415,000. After 40 days with limited showings, the seller reduces to $395,000. Some buyers who see the updated listing wonder why it's been on the market so long. Others see the reduction as a signal that the seller may be motivated and offer below the new price. The extended market time created a perception challenge that a better-calibrated initial price might have avoided.

"Any home that's been on the market for a certain number of days must be overpriced."

Extended market time can indicate overpricing, but it can also result from seasonal timing, a temporarily slow patch in buyer activity, unique property characteristics that limit the buyer pool, or a listing that came on during an unusually quiet period. Context matters significantly. Rather than treating a specific DOM number as a definitive signal, consider it alongside pricing, showing feedback, and what comparable homes are doing in the same market and timeframe.