The average Fort Worth home sold for about 2 percent under its final list price in September 2026. In October 2021 it sold for about 2 percent over. There are more houses for sale now, they sit longer, and more of them carry a price cut. That gives you room to ask. A seller can still say no.
Updated October 31, 2026. The sources are in the next section.
How Much Room Fort Worth Buyers Have to Negotiate
Redfin's market data says homes in the city of Fort Worth sold for an average of 98.0 percent of their final list price in September 2026, about the same as a year earlier, and 15.5 percent sold above list. In October 2021, the earliest month in Redfin's five-year data, that average was about 102 percent, and 58.3 percent sold above list. A year before that, it was about 99 percent.
That's measured against the final list price, so it doesn't count cuts a seller already made. On any one house the gap can be much bigger, or go the other way.
Realtor.com's monthly housing data for Tarrant County, which takes in Fort Worth, shows what changed around it. This is September 2026 next to September 2021, when houses were going fast:
- Homes for sale: 5,976 active listings, up from 2,066.
- Days on market: a median of 57 days, up from 35.
- Price cuts: 27.6 percent of active listings had one, up from 10.7 percent.
- Median list price: $364,995, up from $349,950 in September 2021 and down from $385,000 in September 2022.
This isn't new. September 2025 looked almost the same: 6,233 listings, a median of 58 days and 28.0 percent of listings with a price cut. The big change since then is the rate.
Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.24 percent on October 29, 2026, up from 6.17 percent a year earlier. That stings, and nobody's pretending it doesn't. On a $300,000 loan over 30 years, that's about $213 more a month in principal and interest. It would take about 10 percent off the loan to get back to last year's payment. The average sale came in about 2 percent under list, so on a typical house the price alone won't get you there. That's a reason to push on more than the price, and on the houses that have sat. This is plain math, not a quote: your lender has your real number.
The Redfin and Realtor.com numbers lump together neighborhoods that sell very differently. One of our agents can pull the recent sales and the price cuts for the exact houses you'd consider and show you what they say.
What You Can Ask a Seller For
You can ask for more than a lower price. Most of these have a place in the Texas Real Estate Commission's standard resale contract (form 20-19).
A lower price. Paragraph 3 is the sales price, and you can offer less than the asking price on any house. On a house that's sat for months, the worst a seller can say is no.
Repairs. Paragraph 7D is where repairs go. You can take the house as is, or as is with specific repairs the seller completes and pays for. Name each repair: the form says not to write general phrases like "subject to inspections."
A second ask after the inspection. Asking doesn't stop at the offer. Taking a house as is doesn't stop you from inspecting it, and during the option period, if your contract has one, you can still walk away. That right gives your request weight. TREC's amendment form has lines for a new sales price, added repairs and a new seller contribution toward closing costs. If the appraisal comes in low, read what a low appraisal does to your contract.
Closing costs. Paragraph 12A(1)(b) has a blank where you write in how much the seller will put toward your closing costs. Your lender can tell you how much of that your loan allows.
A home warranty. Paragraph 7H has a blank for how much the seller will reimburse you for a residential service contract, the form's name for a home warranty, if you buy one.
A rate buydown. That means paying money up front to lower your interest rate. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says: "Points lower your interest rate, in exchange for paying more at closing." You can ask a seller to help pay for that. Your lender decides whether the money can be used that way and what it would do to your rate.
A Fort Worth buyer's agent can help you pick which of these to ask for on the house you want, and write it into your offer.
How to Find the Houses Worth Negotiating On
Start with the houses that have been for sale the longest. Ask your agent how long a house has been listed, how many times the price has dropped, and what similar houses sold for. A house that's sat for months is a different negotiation from one that hit the market last week.
Look a little above your budget, too, at houses that have sat a long time and need some work. A list price on a house like that may not be where it ends up. Your offer still has to fit your budget, with the work counted in.
Then find out why it sat. Sometimes the price is the problem, and a lower offer might fix that. Sometimes the problem is the house, and you want to know that before you write the offer.
Expect to hear no. Plan on making more than one offer, on more than one house. Some sellers won't move at all. On a house that just listed or already has other offers, a low offer can cost you the house.
Ask us about the houses in your price range that have sat on the market a while.
