CONTRACT EXPIRATION AND SALES PRICE

This article represents the first empirical attempt to detect the rela tionship between sales price and listing (or contract) period. Specifi cally, we examine the relationship between sales price and contract ex piration days. Our hypothesized positive relationship between sales pr ice and contract expiration days is borne out by the results of this s tudy. These results show that the home seller is able to exact a price premium of 0.04% per contract day that he/she is able to preserve. Al ternatively stated, he/she will concede a price discount of 0.04% per day, on average, as the sales contract approaches its expiration. Simp le analyses of time on the market (TOM) without controlling for listin g period may yield misleading signals.