Price Reductions Done Right: How to Cut Your Markham Listing Price Without Looking Desperate

First, Read What the Market Is Telling You

A home that is not selling usually has one of three issues: price, presentation or exposure. Before changing the price, look at the activity. Plenty of showings but no offers often points to price or condition. Very few showings usually points to price or how the home appears online.

Michael John Lau, a REALTOR® with the Kaizen Real Estate Team, one of the most active real estate teams in Markham and York Region, reviews showing numbers, buyer agent feedback and any nearby sales with sellers after the first two to three weeks, so a price decision is based on evidence rather than frustration.

Days on market figures are TRREB averages for Markham in September 2026. The 4% to 6% range is a common guideline, not a rule. The right amount depends on recent sales and how far the price is from them.

Why Small, Frequent Cuts Often Backfire

• They may not reach new buyers. A $10,000 cut on a $1.3 million home rarely moves it into a different search range.
• They signal more to come. Buyers watching the listing may wait for the next reduction instead of making an offer.
• They add to the history. Buyer agents can see every change, and a long series of cuts tells a story of a seller chasing the market.
• They use up the best weeks. Each round costs time, and time on the market affects how buyers see a home.

Use Search Price Ranges to Your Advantage

Most buyers search with a maximum price, usually a round number. A buyer with a $1,300,000 limit will never see a home listed at $1,349,000. Setting the new price just inside a common range can put the home in front of a new group of buyers who have never seen it.

This is an illustration only. The right new price should come from recent comparable sales, not only from search ranges.

Make the New Price Feel Like a Relaunch

• Refresh the photos: a new lead image, seasonal exterior shots or twilight photos can change first impressions.
• Fix what buyers mentioned: paint, lighting, a deep clean or small repairs.
• Hold an open house the first weekend after the change.
• Tell buyer agents directly who showed the home, so their clients hear about the new price.
• Update the description to lead with the benefits buyers responded to.

When to Adjust

Most attention comes in the first two weeks of a listing. If a home has had good exposure through that period and the following week without serious interest, an adjustment is worth discussing. Waiting two or three months often means making a larger reduction later, after the home has lost its newness.

Seasons matter too. Late fall and the holidays usually bring fewer buyers, so a price change late in the year may have less effect than the same change in early spring.

Should You Cancel and Relist?

Some sellers take a home off the market and relist it to reset the days on market. In TRREB’s figures, Markham homes averaged 34 listing days but 50 property days on market in September 2026. Property days on market tracks the full time a home has been for sale, including earlier listings, and buyer agents can see that history.

Relisting works best when something has really changed: new photos, completed repairs, a new price strategy or a better season. Relisting with nothing new rarely fools anyone. For more, see why Markham homes expire and how to relaunch.

How Buyers See a Well-Planned Adjustment

A single, confident adjustment tells buyers the seller has listened to the market and priced the home to sell. Buyers who passed on it before may book a second look, and new buyers in the lower search range see it for the first time. When the change is paired with fresh photos and an open house, it reads as a new opportunity rather than a sign of trouble.

It also helps negotiations. A home priced in line with recent sales gives the seller firmer ground to hold when an offer arrives.

What to Avoid

1. Reducing without looking at why the home is not selling.
2. Picking a new price based on what you need rather than what has sold.
3. Announcing a reduction without any other change.
4. Waiting so long that the eventual reduction has to be larger.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. The goal is to make sure you have all the information to choose the best path for your sale.

Next Steps

• Request a free home evaluation: see where your home fits against recent sales.
• Relaunching an expired listing: a plan for a fresh start.
• Selling your Markham home: how Michael prepares, markets and negotiates.

Work With Michael John Lau in Markham

Michael John Lau helps Markham sellers whose homes have not sold as expected by looking at the full picture: price, presentation and exposure. Every recommendation comes with the reasoning and the data behind it. The goal is a fresh start that reaches the right buyers.

📞 Contact Michael John Lau, REALTOR®
🌐 www.callmikelau.com

Michael John Lau, REALTOR® · Markham, Ontario · (416) 700-0286
Disclaimer. Michael John Lau is a licensed REALTOR® serving buyers and sellers in Markham, Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area. Markham figures are from TRREB’s September 2026 Market Watch (October 6, 2026). The pricing example and the 4% to 6% range are illustrations, not recommendations for any specific home. Speak with your REALTOR® about your property.