Setting the right initial price for selling a home has always been important, but local data continues to show how much a seller is punished for getting it wrong in today’s market.

Gragg Miller of Coldwell Banker Miller-Arnason regularly combs through home sales and analyzes what happens when a home is priced right (meaning it did not require a listed-price reduction in order to sell) and when a home is priced above the market (requiring at least one price reduction). Miller broke it down by different communities for August, looking at the average days on the market and the final selling price. The numbers show it’s bad news if buyers think a seller is asking too much.

Last month in Bellingham, there were 50 homes without price reductions sold. Those homes stayed on the market an average of 26 days and sold for 93.3 percent of the asking price. The average price reduction was $28,000. Thirty-one homes with price reductions sold. Those homes stayed on the market for an average of 200 days, selling for 84 percent of the original asking price. The average price reduction was $73,000.

Full story is available on Bellingham Herald