Selling Price and Marketing Time in the Residential Real Estate Market

This paper examines the complex relationship between selling price, listing price, housing features, housing market conditions, and marketing time in a large sample of single-family homes. A key finding is that, for houses of equal quality, marketing time varies with the level of contract mortgage rates. Overpricing by sellers is not a successful strategy, however, even under market conditions in which houses in general sell relatively quickly. Finally, marketing time is significantly shorter for newer homes, particularly those in medium or high price ranges, but a home's size has no significant effect on the number of days it remains on the market.