If your McKinney home has been sitting on the market and you're wondering whether something is wrong with the housing market, September's numbers deserve a closer look.
The answer isn't simply “buyers disappeared.”
According to Realtor.com's September 2026 McKinney data:
McKinney | September 2026 |
|---|---|
Median listing price | $525,000 |
Median sold price | $450,800 |
Median days on market | 60 days |
Sale-to-list ratio | 95% |
Average sale vs. asking | 5.05% below asking |
Active listings | 2,439 |
The median sold price was also 9.84% lower than a year earlier, while median days on market increased 10.35% year over year. Realtor
That does not mean every McKinney home has lost 10% of its value.
It does tell us something very important:
Today's sellers cannot price and market a home as though buyers have no alternatives.
And that's where I would start if a seller called me today and said:
“Michelle, why isn't my house selling?”
First: Don't Automatically Blame the Market
Homes are still selling.
That's an important distinction.
The issue is that buyers have become much more selective.
I've written before about just how dramatically buyer choice has changed in Collin County.
In July 2021, there were only 2,504 active listings in Collin County.
By July 2026, there were 11,441.
Yet July 2026 actually produced slightly more closed sales than July 2021.
In other words:
Buyers didn't disappear. Their choices multiplied.
I broke those numbers down here:
McKinney & Collin County Buyers Have Something They Haven't Had in Years: Choice
That's why today's seller needs to ask a different question.
Not:
“Why aren't buyers buying?”
But:
“Why are buyers choosing another house instead of mine?”
That question is much more useful.
The Asking Price Isn't the Market Value
This is one of the most important conversations I'm having with sellers right now.
A seller can list a home for any price.
That doesn't make it worth that price.
September illustrates the distinction particularly well.
McKinney's median listing price was $525,000.
Its median sold price was $450,800. Realtor
Those figures describe different groups of homes, so you should not interpret the $74,200 difference as the average negotiation on an individual property.
But the gap does show why active-listing prices alone can be misleading.
The better evidence comes from what buyers actually agreed to pay.
And even that isn't enough.
I Want to See the Houses That Didn't Sell Too
This is where my pricing analysis goes beyond pulling three sold comparables.
I also want to know:
Which comparable homes expired?
Which sellers cancelled their listings?
Which homes were withdrawn after sitting?
Which listings reduced their price repeatedly?
Which homes came back onto the market after a contract failed?
Those properties tell us something.
A closed sale shows us a price and set of terms that a buyer ultimately accepted.
An expired or cancelled listing may help identify a price or positioning strategy buyers rejected.
Imagine five similar homes.
Three sell between $500,000 and $515,000.
One was listed at $550,000 for 90 days and expired.
Another started at $565,000, reduced twice and was cancelled.
If we look only at the three closed sales, we're missing part of the story.
The unsuccessful listings can help define the ceiling buyers refused to cross.
That's information I want before recommending your price.
“But My Neighbor Sold for More”
Maybe.
Now we need to find out why.
Was the neighbor's sale six months ago?
Did it have a remodeled kitchen?
Newer roof?
Different lot?
Pool?
Better location within the neighborhood?
Three-car garage?
Different floor plan?
Was it competing against fewer homes?
Did the seller contribute money toward the buyer's closing costs?
Did the buyer receive another concession that isn't obvious from the headline sales price?
A comparable isn't comparable simply because it's nearby.
That's why pricing should be an analysis—not a Zestimate and not a price-per-square-foot multiplication exercise.
The First 7–14 Days Matter More Than Sellers Realize
When a home first hits the market, it has something it can never completely get back:
new-listing attention.
Buyers with saved searches see it.
Agents notice it.
People who have been waiting for the right home click.
If the property enters the market noticeably overpriced, many of those buyers don't think:
"I'll come back in three weeks and see whether they reduce it."
They move on to another house.
Then the listing begins accumulating days on market.
Eventually the seller reduces.
But now buyers may ask:
“What's wrong with it?”
Nothing may be wrong with it.
The initial price may simply have been wrong.
Should I Reduce My Price?
Possibly.
But I would not automatically reduce the price before diagnosing the problem.
First, I want to look at four things:
1. Are buyers finding the home?
If very few people are seeing the listing online, we may have a marketing problem.
2. Are buyers clicking but not scheduling showings?
That often points toward price, photography, presentation or a mismatch between expectations and what they're seeing online.
3. Are buyers showing the home but not writing offers?
Now we need to examine feedback, condition, competition and price.
4. Are you getting offers—but they're substantially below asking?
That's market feedback too.
It doesn't automatically mean you should accept them.
But repeated offers in a similar range deserve analysis.
A price reduction should solve a diagnosed problem—not simply make the seller feel like something is happening.
Condition Matters More When Buyers Have Choices
Five years ago, buyers sometimes tolerated things they wouldn't tolerate today.
Dated paint.
Worn carpet.
Clutter.
Poor landscaping.
Deferred maintenance.
Dark photography.
A house that simply didn't show as well as the one down the street.
When inventory is extremely low, buyers may overlook those things because they don't have alternatives.
When they have multiple homes to choose from?
They compare.
That's why preparation matters.
I've already built a detailed guide specifically for McKinney sellers:
Preparing to Sell a McKinney Home: A Step-by-Step Plan
The goal isn't to renovate everything.
It's to spend money where it changes buyer perception or protects your negotiating position.
What If My Home Has Already Been Listed and Didn't Sell?
This is an important question—and a situation where I would not simply relist the same house with new photos and hope for a different outcome.
Before relaunching an expired or cancelled listing, I'd perform a post-mortem.
What was the original price?
How long did it stay there?
How many showings occurred?
What feedback did buyers give?
What competing homes sold while yours was listed?
What competing homes also failed?
Did new construction nearby offer incentives?
Did the photography properly represent the property?
Did buyers encounter condition issues once they walked inside?
Was the home easy to show?
Did the marketing create any reason for buyers to notice it?
And most importantly:
What has changed before we put it back on the market?
A new MLS number isn't a strategy.
Sellers Are Competing With Builders Too
This is especially important in portions of McKinney and surrounding Collin County.
A resale seller may think:
"The new construction is $30,000 more than my house, so I'm priced correctly."
Maybe.
But what if the builder is offering:
- a mortgage-rate buydown;
- $15,000 toward closing costs;
- upgrades;
- discounted inventory homes;
- preferred-lender incentives?
Now the buyer isn't comparing only $525,000 versus $555,000.
They're comparing two completely different transactions.
Resale sellers need to understand that competition.
Is McKinney a Buyer's Market Right Now?
Realtor.com currently classifies McKinney as a buyer's market, meaning supply exceeds demand in its September data. Realtor
But I wouldn't apply that label blindly to every property.
A beautifully prepared home in the right neighborhood at the right price can still move quickly.
A highly desirable price point may behave differently from luxury inventory.
One subdivision can perform differently from another.
That's why citywide statistics are a starting point, not your pricing strategy.
Your strategy needs to come down to:
your house + your neighborhood + your competition + your price point + today's buyer.
What Should a McKinney Seller Do Right Now?
If you're considering selling—or you're already listed and frustrated—I'd do these five things:
1. Re-run the competition.
Not the competition from three months ago. Today's competition.
2. Analyze sold AND failed listings.
Closings tell us where buyers said yes. Expired and cancelled listings help reveal where they said no.
3. Compare your complete offering.
Price, condition, updates, lot, location, presentation and incentives.
4. Fix presentation problems before automatically cutting price.
5. Decide on a pricing strategy before going live—or before relaunching.
Because the strongest time to position a home isn't after 60 days on market.
It's before Day 1.
McKinney Seller FAQs
How long are McKinney homes taking to sell?
Realtor.com reported a 60-day median days on market in September 2026, up 10.35% year over year. Realtor
Are McKinney homes selling below asking price?
On average, yes. Realtor.com reported September sales at approximately 5.05% below asking price, with a 95% sale-to-list ratio. Realtor
Does that mean I should list my house 5% lower?
No. That's exactly the wrong way to use an average.
Your pricing needs to be based on your property's specific comparable sales, current competition, condition and neighborhood.
Should expired listings be used when pricing my home?
They shouldn't be treated like closed-sale comparables, but they can be extremely useful market evidence. They may show price levels buyers repeatedly rejected.
Should I renovate before selling?
Not automatically.
Prioritize repairs and improvements that affect buyer confidence, presentation or value. My step-by-step McKinney seller guide explains how I approach that:
Preparing to Sell a McKinney Home
What if my listing already expired?
Don't simply relist it unchanged.
First determine why it didn't sell and what needs to be different the second time.
Michelle Close
I'm a lifelong North Texan and have called McKinney home since 1998.
I've seen very different North Texas housing markets, and one lesson holds through all of them:
The market doesn't care what we hope a house is worth. It responds to how buyers compare that home with their alternatives.
My job is to understand that competition before we price, prepare and position your home—so we're making decisions from evidence rather than waiting for the market to teach us the lesson after the listing goes live.
Michelle Gifford, REALTOR® | Real Broker
