If you sold a home in the Valley a few years ago, this market is going to feel unfamiliar. Buyers aren't lining up with multiple offers over asking price anymore. They're taking their time, asking more questions and in many cases asking sellers to sweeten the deal before they'll sign. That's not a sign something is wrong with your home. It's just where the market sits right now, and the sellers who understand that tend to sell faster and with less stress than the ones who fight it.

Here's a number worth knowing: more than half of Phoenix metro closings in the $200,000 to $600,000 range now include some kind of seller concession, averaging around $10,000. That's not a rare exception anymore. It's become a normal part of getting a deal to the finish line. Offering a concession doesn't mean you're desperate or that your price was wrong. It means you're meeting the market where it is.

One of the most popular concessions right now is the rate buydown. A seller can pay to temporarily lower the buyer's mortgage rate, often through a 2-1 buydown that drops the rate by a full point in year one and half a point in year two before settling into the permanent rate. It typically costs the seller somewhere between $8,000 and $12,000, but for a buyer staring down today's rates, that kind of savings can be the difference between walking away and writing an offer.

Closing cost credits and repair credits are the other tools showing up again and again. A closing cost credit helps a buyer cover the fees that come with financing a home, which matters more now that buyers are stretching their budgets further than they were a couple years ago. Repair credits do something similar after an inspection turns up issues. Instead of a drawn out back and forth over who fixes what, many sellers are offering a credit and letting the buyer handle repairs on their own timeline.

None of these concessions are one size fits all, and offering all three isn't usually the answer. The right move depends on your price point, your timeline and what buyers looking at homes like yours actually care about. If you're thinking about listing and want to figure out which of these makes sense for your situation, I'm always happy to talk it through.

Sources: Buying a home in September 2026 (Homes.com), Seller's Credit in Phoenix (movingtophoenixmetro.com), Buy Down Your Mortgage Interest Rate in Phoenix (movingtophoenixmetro.com)