I don’t think unmotivated sellers affect DOM to any significant degree. Here’s why….
I do know of instances where the sellers (often investors) float a for sale sign out there to see if anyone wants a bite. The price tag is usually too high to trigger an offer in a buyer’s market. They got used to doing this in the seller’s market, and they continue to do so, knowing that if it doesn’t sell, then it doesn’t sell. They are, in a real sense of the word, unmotivated. My computations only involve homes that actually sell, so a home that is completely unreasonable and goes off the market will have no effect.
However, in this market, there are many motivated sellers, and they have adjusted their prices downward, but their homes still aren’t selling. They aren’t asking an unreasonable amount for their homes, given the history of sales, and are often asking prices that were in place a year ago. But they aren’t even getting offers.
Motivation is a matter of perspective. No one wants to take a loss or feel that they should. I wouldn’t call someone who doesn’t want a loss “unmotivated.” They may be unrealistic or maybe even not so smart, but I’m not sure unmotivated is the word that comes to mind. It takes people time to come around to new market price points, whether buyers or sellers.
