83% of Sellers Expect Asking Price (or More) This Spring

Right now, home sellers are optimistic about the spring market, but they’re being way more intentional about how they play their cards. 

Roughly 74% of potential sellers believe now is a good time to list, according to the Realtor.com® Spring Seller Survey, citing strong home values and limited inventory as their main reasons for jumping in. And while sellers are reporting a high level of confidence, there’s also a growing, grounded awareness of how much things are changing in the market. 

Getting these listings to the finish line means helping your clients understand where buyers are finding new leverage and how your specific local market is trending. 

Byron Lazine unpacked the data on a recent Hot Sheet. 

Seller Expectations for Price, Timing & Concessions

Most sellers expect to get their asking price or even a bit more, which shows pricing confidence hasn’t evaporated. But they’re approaching the market with more awareness of buyer leverage.

Here’s what sellers expect when it comes to their home’s sale price:

• 46.4% expect to get their asking price
• 37.0% expect to get more than their asking price
• 11.9% expect to get less than their asking price
• 4.7% don’t know what to expect

How long sellers expect it will take to sell their home: 

• 41.4% expect it will take 3-4 months to sell their home
• 26.8% expect it will take 1-2 months
• 15.2% expect it will take 5-6 months
• 7.5% expect it will take less than one month
• 6.1% expect it will take longer than six months
• 3.0% don’t know how long it will take

Nationally, homes are going under contract in 57 days on average. By bringing data to showcase the average days on market for your local market, you can help guide sellers’ expectations here. 

As for concession expectations: 

• 38.9% expect to make more concessions as a seller (up from 30.2% in 2025)
• 31.6% expect neither they nor the buyer will have to make significant or unexpected concessions (down from last year’s 36.1%)
• 27.1% expect the buyer will have to make more concessions (close to last year’s 27.0%)

Outcomes are more dependent on pricing accuracy from day one. Sellers are more receptive to these conversations when you make the list price strategic rather than personal. 

Top Reasons People Are Moving Right Now

Selling for a profit has increased year over year to become a leading motivation, cited by 41% of sellers. On the flip side, lifestyle moves, like just wanting a change of scenery, have actually declined.

Sellers who are entering the market tend to have a clear reason to move and a plan for what comes next. More sellers are looking for space or responding to life changes, while fewer are moving just for a change of scenery or to downsize. 

Here’s what’s driving the 2026 seller to list their home for sale:

• Profit potential (41.3% for 2026, up from 35.7% for 2025)
• Looking for a different neighborhood (40.8% in 2026, down from 46.2% in 2025)
• Need more space (39.0% in 2026, up from 34.5% the year before) 
• Potential buyers have shown a lot of interest… (23.7%, up from 21.5% in 2025)
• Need to move for family (21.8%, slightly up from 21.4% in 2025)
• Need to downsize (20.3%, down from 25.2% in 2025)
• Life event: marriage, kids, divorce, etc. (18.0% in 2026, up a tick from 17.9% in 2025)
• Low(er) interest rates (17.7% in 2026)
• Need to move for work (17.3% in 2026, up from 15.5% in 2025)
• Political reasons (10.1% in 2026, up from 9.7% in 2025)
• Can no longer afford current home (8.0% in 2025, down from 10.2% in 2025)

Most sellers are also staying close to home. About 80% plan to remain in their current state, and more than half are moving within the same county. That’s good news for agents focusing on hyperlocal content since local market knowledge is even more important right now. 

Seller decisions are being shaped by what’s happening in a very specific area. 

People moving just for fun or to downsize are retreating, leaving the field to those who have a clear financial or life-based reason to move. 

A Split Market Means Strategy Has to Be Local

This is not a one-size-fits-all housing market. Conditions vary widely depending on where you are, and that’s showing up clearly in both seller sentiment and actual market data.

Realtor.com’s new “Market Clock” data shows only 26% of the nation’s largest metros are true seller’s markets right now. The rest of the country is tilting into balanced or even buyer-friendly territory.

• The South and West are trending more buyer friendly as inventory starts to stack up, especially in places like Austin, Tampa, and Miami.
• The Northeast and Midwest are keeping that seller market energy in cities like Hartford, Chicago, and Indianapolis because inventory is still stubbornly tight.
• Because the market is so fragmented, pricing and concession strategy has to be hyperlocal to be successful.

Hannah Jones, Senior Economic Research Analyst at Realtor.com®, summed it up like this:

“The sellers who are most likely to succeed this spring are the ones who are listing a well-priced, move-in-ready home and doing so before the summer surge in competition.

“In markets where inventory is tighter, particularly across the Northeast and Midwest, motivated sellers are still in a strong position. But even in markets where supply has recovered, like parts of the South and West, the mid-April window is the optimal time to capture high-intent buyers before the market gets crowded.”

Execution: The Agent Playbook for Spring 2026

Timing is going to play an outsized role in 2026. And sellers do have market advantages beyond Realtor.com’s rapidly-closing‘ Goldilocks window’ of April 14 through 18.  

Right now, though, sellers are split on how to handle a home that doesn’t sell quickly:

• 35.0% would reduce the price
• 33.5% would wait out the market
• 29.1% would take it off the market
• 2.4% are unsure what they would do

Your ability to set expectations early is the difference between a closed deal and a withdrawn listing, or a sale price that leaves a bitter taste in your client’s throat.  

Winning the rest of the season comes down to three key plays:

• Use Scripts that Uncover Seller Motivation. BAMx members practice these every week in the live roleplaying masterminds with Byron Lazine, Tom Toole, and Lisa Chinatti. 
• Master the Hyper-Local Data: Sellers in the Northeast face a completely different reality from those in the Sun Belt. Use local “Market Clock” data to show clients why a buyer in their zip code might have more leverage than national headlines suggest.
• Prep for the “Give and Take”: Since concession expectations have jumped to 39%, start the conversation about repairs and credits during the listing presentation. 

Some sellers are hearing horror stories about neighborhood homes that never sold. If you’re having conversations with sellers who say, “We want to work with you, but give us a month to get our home market-ready,” there’s a script for that, too. 

Success for the rest of this spring depends on how well you manage the gap between seller confidence and market reality. While your clients are eyeing big payouts, they need your expertise to understand that the “take-it-or-leave-it” days have been replaced by a more strategic environment. 

By anchoring their goals in local “Market Clock” data and being honest about concession trends, you provide the clarity they need to navigate this season successfully.