Days on market is a story, not a stat

A high DOM is not always a red flag, and a low one is not always a green light.

Days on market measures how long listings take to go under contract. On its own it is easy to misread. A long average can mean genuine softness, or it can mean the segment is full of aspirational pricing that drags the number up while sharp listings still move fast.

For a buyer, a home that has sat is often a negotiation opportunity, but only after you understand why it sat: price, condition, a hard-to-love floor plan, or just a bad first photo. Each points to a different offer strategy.

For a seller, watching DOM in your specific segment tells you how much patience the market will reward and how aggressively you need to price to avoid becoming the stale listing everyone lowballs.

The number is a starting question, not an answer. That is true of most single stats, which is why I read them together rather than one at a time.