Home stuck on the market? You may have to play the price is right in prime time.

"It doesn't take long to sell a house in the Greater Boston area - just 22 days, according to summer data from the National Organization of Realtors. The median age for all listings is 42 days in the Greater Boston area, said Matt Kreamer, communications director at Zillow. While these figures have begun to gradually extend, they still reflect overall seasonal trends."

"Timing is not everything, but it matters a lot, said real estate agent Anthony Lamacchia of Lamacchia Realty, which has many offices in Massachusetts and other New England states. Often, neighbors see a home go under contract and think they can do better with their own, but the home they saw selling was listed many months prior, at a time of year when stock was low, and competing offers were high."

"There's only one way to trigger a notification for those who have subscribed to real estate email updates. "You need to make a price adjustment," he said. Strategically hopping down a price bracket will help by exposing the listing to a new range of buyers who capped their search at a certain price. For example, instead of moving a $899,000 listing to $810,000, try $799,000."

Homes in the Greater Boston area sold in about 22 days during the summer, with a median listing age of 42 days. Seasonal trends influence time on market, and average selling times have begun to gradually extend. Some houses linger longer because of avoidable factors. Timing matters: listings entered during low-inventory periods receive more competing offers than those listed later when supply increases. Summer listings can face three to four times more competition. Price adjustments are the primary way to re-trigger buyer notifications; strategically dropping into a lower price bracket exposes listings to buyers capped at that price.

Read at Boston.com