Hey Jason: Do I Need to Drop My Price, or Did I Just Price Wrong on Day One?

Published June 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026 · By Jason Todd, Calgary REALTOR® · Southeast Calgary (McKenzie Towne, Cranston, Auburn Bay, Mahogany, Seton, McKenzie Lake, New Brighton, Legacy)

Your home has been on the market for three weeks.

Showings feel slow.

Your agent mentions reducing the price.

Fair question.

I pulled July 1 – September 22, 2026 MLS sold data for detached homes under $800,000 across southeast Calgary. One thing still stands out:

Most sellers never publicly reduced their price.

But most still sold below their original asking price.

Only 18% of homes showed an MLS price reduction (32 of 175).

But 78% still sold below original list (137 of 175).

That tells me most sellers weren't doing big public price cuts.

Buyers were negotiating.

Or sellers built negotiation room into their price from day one.

Days on Market Usually Tells You Which Problem You Have

This is the first thing I look at when someone asks whether they should cut.

Days on Market	Sales	Sold price vs original price	Had MLS reduction
0–14 days	42	+0.08%	1 of 42
15–30 days	56	−2.29%	9 of 56
31–60 days	54	−3.68%	13 of 54
60+ days	23	−6.22%	9 of 23

Source: MLS® sold data, Pillar 9 / CREB®. Sold July 1 – September 22, 2026. Detached only. Original list under $800,000. Southeast Calgary communities including McKenzie Towne, Cranston, Auburn Bay, Mahogany, Seton, McKenzie Lake, New Brighton, Legacy, and Douglasdale. Figures believed accurate at time of writing; not intended as an appraisal.

A few things jump out.

Homes that sold in the first two weeks barely gave anything up — +0.08% versus original list.

Homes that sat more than 60 days gave up −6.22% on average.

That doesn't automatically mean the market changed in those 60 days.

Sometimes it means the home started too high.

Row and townhouse sellers: same window, 97 sales — 22% had MLS reductions and homes that cut averaged −9.12% versus original list. Attached product punishes a high launch even harder. See Why Did My Neighbour Sell for More? for how similar townhomes in the same complex can close far apart.

I Hear This Conversation All the Time

"We started high to leave room."

Or:

"We'll just drop $15,000 if we need to."

Sometimes that works.

But the data says once homes sit for more than 30 days, a small adjustment often isn't enough.

The market may already be telling you something.

Most Sellers Didn't Cut — They Still Negotiated

Here's the part that still surprises people.

Of the 175 sales:

Result	Count
Sold below original list	137
Sold at or above original list	33
Had MLS reduction	32
No MLS reduction	143

Homes that reduced averaged −6.22% versus original list.

Homes that never reduced still averaged −1.87%.

82% had no MLS reduction — and 23% of those still sold at or above original list.

Translation:

Most homes don't sell exactly at asking.

That doesn't mean they were overpriced.

Negotiation is normal.

Same filter, July 1 – September 22, 2025: sellers who never cut averaged −1.60% versus original list. This year it's −1.87%. Same days-on-market pattern. Sellers who needed a cut landed around −6% versus original in both years. First-14-day sales were actually a bit tighter this year (+0.08% vs −0.50% last year).

Jason's Take

When a listing stalls, the default advice is usually:

"Drop the price."

But I think that's the wrong first question.

The better question is:

Were we close and buyers are negotiating?

Or were we off from day one?

Before changing price, pull a handful of comparable solds.

Look at:

Original list
Final sold price
Days on market

That usually tells the story pretty quickly.

If you haven't listed yet, read What Is My Home Worth? before you pick a number — and How Do You Set My Listing Price? for the day-one method I use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I drop my listing price if I have no offers after two weeks?

Not automatically. Homes that sold in 0–14 days averaged +0.08% versus original list and only 1 of 42 had an MLS reduction. Two weeks with showings but no offer often means you're in the right ballpark — compare your list to recent solds before you cut.

What percentage of Calgary homes sell below asking price?

In this southeast detached-under-$800k slice, 78% sold below original list from July 1 – September 22, 2026 — but only 18% had a formal MLS price reduction. Most of the gap came from negotiation off the day-one number.

Does lowering price help sell my house faster?

A cut can restart interest if you were close to market. Sellers who sat 31–60 days averaged −3.68% versus original list; 60+ days averaged −6.22%. Speed usually comes from launching where recent comps show buyers are already paying.

How do I know if I priced my house too high?

Compare your list to MLS solds with similar size, condition, and property type in your community. If comps sold in under 14 days near list and you're past 30 days with thin showings, you're likely above what buyers proved they'd pay this summer.

Is it better to price low and get multiple offers, or price high and negotiate?

Price to where the data says buyers are transacting. In this window, 23% of sellers who never cut still sold at or above original list. Stretching high and sitting 60+ days is what produced the −6% outcome — not a late $15,000 trim.

More in the Hey Jason Series

Read What Is My Home Worth? · How Do You Set My Listing Price? · Why Did My Neighbour Sell for More? · Hey Jason hub

Selling in Southeast Calgary?

If you're selling in McKenzie Towne, Cranston, Auburn Bay, Mahogany, or anywhere in the southeast and want to compare your home to recent solds, send me the address.

No hard sell.

I'll show you what the market has actually been doing.

Jason Todd | Calgary REALTOR® | (403) 255-5555 | jasontodd.ca