I've been selling homes in Cheverly for a while now, and every year I find myself a little frustrated by the summary stats that float around after the market closes out — not because they're wrong exactly, but because they tend to flatten a more interesting story. This year I decided to dig in more carefully, correcting for some of the ways standard MLS figures can mislead. Here's what I found.
Volume Rebounded. Prices Didn't Quite.
After a solid 2023 — 64 closed sales at a median of $480,000 — things got quieter in 2024. Only 54 homes changed hands, though the ones that did sold at a higher median of $512,500. Fewer sales, higher prices. Then in 2025, volume bounced back to 63 closings, but the median price slipped to $499,900, essentially giving back 2024's price gains while restoring something closer to 2023's pace.
Zoom out and the three-year picture is actually pretty stable: roughly the same number of homes selling, at roughly the same prices. 2024 was the outlier — a tighter, pricier year sandwiched between two more normal ones.
The Market Got a Lot Less Forgiving
This is the part I really want neighbors to understand, especially anyone thinking about selling this year.
In my sample of 2025 transactions, 38% of sellers had to cut their price at least once before finding a buyer. In 2024, that figure was 18%. The average cut was about $41,000 — nearly 7.5% off what they'd originally asked. That's not a small concession, and it doesn't include the weeks or months of stress and uncertainty that came before it.
Those price cuts weren't the result of buyers driving a hard bargain. They were the result of sellers starting out too high. Buyers weren't beating anyone up at the negotiating table — they were simply passing on homes that weren't priced for the market and waiting for something better.
What the data makes clear is that this is still very much a seller's market — for sellers who price correctly. The average original asking price for homes that failed to sell was $557,000. For homes that closed, it was $505,000. That's a $52,000 gap, and it's almost entirely a pricing gap. Not a condition gap. Not a location gap.
Homes that failed to sell averaged $557,000 in original asking price. Homes that closed averaged $505,000. Sellers who came in at a realistic number moved quickly, faced limited pushback, and got close to what they asked. The market will reward you — if you let it meet you where it is.
A Third of Listings Never Sold
About a third of everything that came to market in 2025 expired, was canceled, or was withdrawn without a sale. What surprised me more was that roughly half of those failures were homes that had already failed before. Same property, new MLS number, no meaningful change. They came back hoping the market had shifted. It hadn't shifted enough. They failed again.
To be fair: five relisted properties did sell in 2025, and they earned it. Sellers who came back after genuinely improving their homes — real renovations, fresh finishes, updated kitchens — had different results. The distinction isn't whether you relist. It's whether you give buyers a reason to look at your home differently than they did before.
A Note on "Sold Over Asking"
This phrase gets thrown around a lot, and I want to address it directly because I think it creates a false impression — sometimes even among people in the business.
If you list at $550,000, reduce to $499,000 after two months, and accept $502,000, you technically "sold over asking." But you sold for $48,000 less than you originally hoped, after a long and stressful stretch on the market. That's not a bidding war.
When I corrected for original asking prices across the full sample, only 47% of 2025 sales hit or exceeded what sellers originally asked. The headline figure was higher — but it was counting reduced-price sales as wins.
What This Means If You're Buying or Selling in 2026
Cheverly is still a great market. Metro access, a real neighborhood identity, interesting housing stock, genuine community — buyers know all of that, and it shows up in the prices. What's changed is that buyers are more patient than they were two or three years ago. They'll wait out an overpriced listing. They won't negotiate nearly as hard on a well-priced one.
- Prepare and price honestly from day one — that combination still wins here
- Buyers aren't negotiating against you; they're ignoring overpriced homes entirely
- Relisting without changing anything changes nothing
- "Price high and hope" doesn't work anymore — if it ever really did
- "Sold over asking" doesn't always mean what it sounds like — check the original list price
- Look at cumulative days on market, not just the current listing's clock
- A home listed 14 days under a new MLS number may have 120 days of real market history
- That history matters when you're deciding what to offer
Thinking About Your Own Home?
I offer a Home Sale Planning Conversation for Cheverly homeowners. It's not a listing appointment — it's a walk-through of your property, a realistic look at value and timing, and a chance to ask questions without any pressure to do anything. Some people come out of it ready to move. Others decide to wait. Both are fine. The point is clarity.
Learn More at TheCheverlyGoodlife.com
