A listing stale across two seasons has outlived its own price.

A house that sits on the market from summer into winter at the same asking price is priced for a market that has already moved on. Buyers notice. Most of them search online inside a price bracket, and the same photos showing up month after month tell them something is wrong with the house or the price. They rarely stop to find out which.

The asking price also has very little to do with what a bank will lend. When a buyer applies for a bond, the bank sends its own valuer, who looks at recent sales of similar homes nearby. If the asking price sits well above those sales, the valuation comes in lower, the bond comes in lower, and the buyer has to find the difference in cash or walk away. So a price that ignores comparable sales loses the buyers who need finance, and in most towns that is a large share of them.

The longer a listing stays put, the more the conversation changes. Early on a buyer asks what the house is worth. After two seasons the buyer asks what is wrong with it, and offers come in low to cover whatever answer they suspect. By then a price cut looks like weakness instead of good sense, even though it was the sensible move from the start.