Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market? How the Real Estate Market Really Works

Right now, one of the strangest things about the High Desert real estate market is that you can hear two completely different stories—and both of them can be true.

One agent says:

We listed the house and immediately had multiple offers.”

Another says:

My listing has been sitting there and all I hear are crickets.”

So which is it?

Are we in a buyer’s market or a seller’s market?

The answer is: it depends on where your property is positioned.

You can have a seller’s market in one price range and a buyer’s market in another. You can even have two similar homes in the same neighborhood experiencing completely different levels of activity.

To understand why, you have to understand how buyers actually shop for real estate.

Who Are We Really Marketing Your Home To?

Years ago, Mike and I heard a presentation from a brilliant market statistician named Bob Thompson that completely changed the way we looked at real estate.

He taught a concept he called the Automatic Market.

Start with a simple question:

When we put a house on the open market, who are we marketing it to?

Most people immediately say, buyers.”

But there’s another important audience:

The agents working with those buyers.

Those agents are constantly searching the available inventory trying to identify the properties that give their clients the best combination of price, location, condition, and features.

And today, much of that comparison happens before anyone gets in the car.

The Market Is on a Screen

Imagine a buyer is qualified for approximately $400,000.

Their agent searches for homes between, say, $380,000 and $420,000.

Suddenly, dozens of properties appear.

The buyer doesn't have time—or desire—to physically tour every one of them.

So what happens?

They start filtering.

They look at photographs. Square footage. Neighborhood. Condition. Lot size. Upgrades. Days on market.

And, of course, price.

This is where sellers sometimes misunderstand how modern real estate works.

There is no button on the search screen that says:

Show me all the overpriced houses first.”

The buyer and their agent naturally gravitate toward the homes offering the strongest perceived value.

That filtering process is the Automatic Market at work.

Welcome to the Show Zone”

Bob taught us another concept we've used ever since:

The Show Zone.

Think about shopping at a grocery store.

Products sitting at eye level get noticed. Products hidden on the top or bottom shelf are easier to overlook.

Real estate works similarly.

Every property has a range where buyers perceive it as competitive enough to deserve attention.

That's the show zone.

Price the property appropriately within that zone and you improve the chances of getting showings.

Position it outside that zone and something frustrating can happen:

Nothing.

No calls.

No showings.

No offers.

The natural reaction is often:

We need more marketing.”

Maybe.

But sometimes you don't have a marketing problem.

You have a positioning problem.

Competitive pricing is itself part of marketing because it can expand the pool of buyers interested in the property. NAR's consumer guidance likewise notes that pricing analysis shouldn't be based solely on closed sales; agents can consider comparable properties that have recently sold, are under contract, or are currently active.

The Best Values Get Shown First

Put yourself in the buyer's agent's shoes.

Your client needs a home.

They're pre-approved, motivated and constantly seeing new properties online.

Your job is to help them identify the strongest choices before another buyer gets there first.

Which homes are you going to recommend?

Usually the ones with the highest probability of satisfying your buyer.

In other words:

The best values.

That doesn't necessarily mean the cheapest house.

A beautifully updated home might justify more money than the house around the corner. A larger lot, superior condition, better location or additional features can absolutely affect value.

But buyers compare those benefits against everything else available.

Your home doesn't compete against what you wish it were worth.

It competes against what buyers can purchase instead.

This Is Why Pending Sales Matter So Much

One of the biggest mistakes sellers can make is looking only at closed sales.

Closed comparable sales are important. But they're historical.

A property that closed today may have been negotiated weeks earlier. In a changing market, that distinction matters.

That's why we also pay close attention to pending sales.

Pending properties tell us where buyers recently said:

Yes. At approximately this price and under these market conditions, I'm willing to move forward.”

We may not know the final recorded sales price yet, but the activity itself gives us valuable information.

It tells us where buyers are engaging.

It helps identify the competition.

And it can help us locate the current show zone.

The High Desert Gave Us a Perfect Example

When this article was originally written, our local market had already moved dramatically.

The High Desert median sales price had peaked around $423,500 in June 2022.

By approximately February 2023, it had fallen to roughly $386,500.

Then it moved back up to around $414,000.

Think about that movement.

If you're pricing a property using information that's months old while the market is changing around you, you may be making today's decision using yesterday's market.

That's why we always say:

Sold data tells you where the market has been. Pending and active competition can help tell you where the market is going.

Your Upgrades Matter—But Only After Buyers See the House

This can be painful for sellers.

You may have spent $40,000 remodeling the kitchen.

You may have installed beautiful flooring, upgraded the backyard, replaced the HVAC system, or built the garage you've always wanted.

Those things absolutely can affect desirability and value.

But first the buyer has to walk through the door.

If your asking price causes the property to be filtered out before the buyer seriously considers it, they may never see those improvements.

Features can't sell a house the buyer never considers.

What If My Home Isn't Getting Activity?

This brings us back to Bob Thompson's lesson.

If a property sits for an extended period, there are generally three major areas to examine:

Location. Condition. Price.

You can't move the location.

You may be able to improve the condition.

And you can change the price.

That's why days on market are not merely a clock.

They're feedback.

The longer a property sits without meaningful activity, the more information the market is giving you.

Modern national seller data supports the basic principle: homes that remain on the market longer tend to sell at a larger discount from their asking price. In NAR's 2025 seller profile, homes selling within two weeks received a median 100% of asking price, while that percentage declined as market time increased.

The Market Isn't Rejecting Your Home

This may be the most important point.

When sellers aren't getting showings, it's easy to take it personally.

What's wrong with my house?

Maybe nothing.

Your home may be beautiful.

The problem may simply be that, at its current price, buyers see another property as a better value.

And that's the fascinating thing about the Automatic Market:

Nobody has to tell buyers what to do.

Thousands of individual decisions create the market automatically.

Buyers compare.

Agents compare.

Properties get shown.

Offers get written.

Homes go pending.

Other sellers adjust.

And the market continually establishes a range where buyers are willing to act.

The Bottom Line

A buyer's market and a seller's market don't necessarily have to exist at different times.

They can exist simultaneously.

Price range matters.

Location matters.

Condition matters.

Inventory matters.

And positioning matters.

That's why pricing isn't simply choosing a number based on the last house that sold down the street.

It's understanding where your property fits among the choices buyers have right now.

Because ultimately, you don't need every buyer to love your house.

You need the right buyers to see it, recognize its value, and act.

That's the show zone.

And that's how the real estate market really works.

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Bobby Tarango & Mike Arias
#1 Title & Escrow Team in the Nation

Free Title Assessment: TitlesEverything.com
Title, escrow & real estate resources: ChicagoTitlePro.com
Follow us: @MikeandBobbyShow

Originally published in 2023. High Desert market figures have been preserved from the original publication for historical context. Market conditions and property values change overhttps://leadmarketer.com/el/assetmanager/usermedia/87308/Orignal_40_HowRealEstateWorks_CT[41247].jpg