Sellers priced closer to the market in July 2026 — asking-price cuts fell to 37.4% of sales (down from a January peak of 57.0%) — but buyers still held the upper hand at the closing table: 64.5% of sales closed with a buyer concession, up from 60.4% a year ago. Rogersville, Gray, and Blountville saw the most frequent price cuts regionally; Johnson City held the steadiest asking prices among the major markets. Data from NETAR, as reported by Don Fenley (CoreData); the read below is mine.
What July's numbers mean
The headline isn't that sellers are losing ground — it's that they're making fewer mistakes at the start. Price-cut frequency has fallen every month since January's 57.0% peak, landing at 37.4% in July, as sellers learn to open closer to what the market will actually bear.
But that improved pricing discipline hasn't handed sellers the leverage back. Buyers negotiated a lower final price in 64.5% of July sales — up from 60.4% in July 2025 — meaning roughly two of every three transactions still closed with some form of concession. For sellers, the lesson is that a realistic list price avoids a later markdown, but it doesn't eliminate the negotiation entirely. For buyers, the room to push has simply moved from the list price to the final offer.
Sales volume also rose year-over-year in July, which is worth noting: this shift toward buyer leverage is happening in a busier market, not a slowing one. More listings changing hands gives buyers more to compare, which keeps steady pressure on price even with inventory still tight.
The numbers at a glance
| Metric | July 2026 | July 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales under $1M | 746 | — | Up year-over-year |
| Homes with a price cut | 37.4% | 37.0% | Roughly flat |
| Average price cut | $27,150 | $28,566 | Slightly smaller |
| Homes with a concession | 64.5% | 60.4% | Up 4.1 pts |
| Average concession | $16,700 | $18,820 | Slightly smaller |
Source: NETAR data, as reported by Don Fenley, CoreData (August 9, 2026). Figures cover Tri-Cities sales under $1 million. Commentary mine. Fenley has not yet published July's overall median sale price or total closed-sales count as of this report — this update focuses on the pricing-negotiation data he has released so far.
Where price cuts were most common
Rogersville led the region on price-cut frequency in July at 57.1% of its 21 sales, followed by Gray (50.0% of 16 sales) and Blountville (48.1% of 27 sales). These are smaller markets where a handful of cuts move the percentage quickly, but the direction was consistent across all three. Among the larger markets, Kingsport (40.7%) and Bristol (44.7%) ran a bit above the regional average, while Johnson City posted the lowest cut rate of any major market at 28.7% — its sellers held their asking price more often than anywhere else in the region, which is a meaningful part of why the region-wide cut rate eased this summer.
| Market | July sales | Price-cut share | Avg cut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rogersville | 21 | 57.1% | $21,125 |
| Gray | 16 | 50.0% | $39,625 |
| Blountville | 27 | 48.1% | $17,757 |
| Bristol | 76 | 44.7% | $23,965 |
| Kingsport | 140 | 40.7% | $22,680 |
| Jonesborough | 53 | 37.7% | $25,632 |
| Greeneville | 54 | 37.0% | $24,032 |
| Church Hill | 22 | 31.8% | $15,843 |
| Abingdon | 22 | 31.8% | $34,643 |
| Erwin | 20 | 30.0% | $40,550 |
| Johnson City | 108 | 28.7% | $29,583 |
| Elizabethton | 34 | 23.5% | $17,638 |
Source: Don Fenley, CoreData (August 9, 2026). Smaller markets (Unicoi, Hampton, Chuckey) excluded per Fenley's methodology — too few sales for the share to be meaningful.
The Cost of Overpricing
July 2026 data · Fenley/CoreDataof July sales needed no price cut at all
Up from just 43% of sales in January — sellers are opening closer to market value.
average price cut needed to sell in July (37.4% of listings needed one)
The cut doesn't save the buyer money — it just erases a number that was never real. It costs the seller time and leverage instead.
What this means if you're buying or selling
If you're selling, July's data makes the case for pricing at market from day one: sellers who did skipped the markdown entirely, and the region-wide cut rate keeps falling as more sellers catch on. If you're buying, don't assume a well-priced listing means no room to negotiate — 64.5% of July's sales still closed with some kind of concession, so it's worth asking for one even on a home that never had a price cut.
Curious what a specific market's numbers mean for your own budget? That's a free call, and the earlier we run the numbers, the more runway you have before you're competing for a specific house.
For agents
Use any of these figures with your buyers and sellers however helps. If you'd like the monthly read as it comes out, here's how I work with agents.