Is the Open House Still Worth It? What the Data Actually Shows

Open Houses Actually Sell Homes? What the Data Shows

Most agents default to open houses without questioning whether they're working. It's a habit built into the job. But NAR research puts a number on something worth sitting with: only about 3% of buyers say an open house was their first step in the homebuying process.

That doesn't mean open houses are useless. It means they're probably doing something different than most people assume.

By the Time Buyers Show Up, They've Already Decided

The homebuying process starts online now, and it starts weeks or months before anyone walks through a door. Buyers are scrolling listings, comparing photos, reading about neighborhoods, and quietly eliminating options before they ever contact an agent.

So when someone actually shows up to an open house, they're not browsing. They've already done a version of the shortlist. The open house is where they confirm or kill what they've been thinking about online.

The implication is straightforward: the marketing that matters most happens before the event, not during it.

Who Open Houses Actually Benefit

For sellers, an open house creates visible activity. There's something real about people coming through the door — it feels like progress, and sometimes that matters psychologically during a long sale process.

For agents, open houses are a lead generation tool as much as anything else. Unrepresented buyers walking through are potential future clients.

But in terms of selling the specific property? The data doesn't back up the assumption that open houses are the driver.

What Open Houses Can and Can't Do in This Market

In a market where buyers have more options and less urgency, an open house can reduce friction for someone already interested. It gives them a convenient reason to make a visit they were already considering. It can nudge a decision forward when real interest already exists.

What it doesn't do well is generate that interest from scratch. When a listing is sitting — days on market creeping up, no offers — more foot traffic through an open house rarely fixes the underlying problem. The issue is usually pricing, online presentation, or how the property is positioned before anyone shows up.

The Shift Worth Making

Open houses aren't the wrong tool. They're just often used as a first answer when they're better suited as a second one.

If 3% of buyers start there, then 97% start somewhere else — and that's where the real work is. Online presentation, pricing that doesn't require negotiating down, listing photos and copy that do the filtering before the showing.

The open house still has a place. But in today's market, attention gets earned digitally first and confirmed in person later. Leading with the open house gets that order backwards.