Published October 7, 2026 in Market Update

Selling Over Asking Still Costs Some Sellers Money

By Katy Sinkler

Real estate, market update clean

You hear it all the time. "We got over asking." It sounds like a win. And in a lot of ways it is. But I pulled every listing in this market through October 7, 2026, and what I found is that getting over asking and walking away with every dollar are two very different things.

Getting over asking does not mean keeping every dollar

Of the 234 homes that sold, 44 sellers paid money back to the buyer at closing. That is 18.8%. Nearly 1 in 5. And these were not homes that sold below asking. These were homes where the buyer agreed to a price at or above what the seller asked, then negotiated money back after the fact.

The typical amount paid back was $10,000. That is real money. It comes back out of the seller's pocket at the closing table, after the price is already agreed on. A seller who sees the number and celebrates early may be surprised when the final check arrives.

One home on King Street sold for $2,899,000, at or over asking, and then paid $40,460 back. That is not a small adjustment. Five homes in this market sold at or over asking and still paid back $20,000 or more. The price on the contract and the money the seller actually keeps are not always the same number.

Does selling over asking protect you from paying back money?

The short answer is no. The concession comes after the price is set. A buyer agrees to a number, then asks for money back to cover repairs, closing costs, or other items found during the process. The seller says yes because they want the deal to close. The contract price stays the same. The check shrinks.

The whole market closed at 96.3% of the last asking price and 95.1% of what homes first asked. That gap between the first ask and what homes actually sold for is where a lot of the story lives. Homes priced at $5.25M and up closed at 92.1% of what they first asked. Homes priced between $2M and $3.25M closed at 93.9% of their first ask. Homes priced between $3.25M and $5.25M did better than both, closing at 95.9%. The relationship between price and what sellers keep is not a straight line, and no single rule covers every range.

What this means for you, whether you are selling or buying

If you are selling, the number to watch is not just what you accept. It is what you keep. Of the 44 sellers who paid money back, the typical concession was $10,000, and that does not show up in the headline. It shows up in your closing statement. Price the home well from the start and go in knowing what buyers in this market tend to ask for after the contract is signed. Homes that found a buyer in the first month closed at 97.6% of their first ask. Homes that waited over six months closed at 83.1%. Speed and net price move together here. The national picture adds context: existing-home sales across the country ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million in August 2026, with housing supply at 4.9 months, according to the National Association of Realtors. In a slower national market, local pricing discipline matters even more.

If you are buying, the concession is a real tool. Nearly half of all buyers in this market, 49.1%, paid cash, and cash buyers closed in a typical 12 days against 36 days for buyers using a loan. If you are financing, you are already at a pace disadvantage. But the data shows that loan buyers still closed at 93.8% of what homes first asked, and concessions are part of how that gap closes. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.28% as of October 1, 2026, up from 6.34% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey. At that rate, every dollar you negotiate back at closing matters more than it did a year ago.