When is the best time to sell a home? A new analysis conducted by Redfin examined listed properties and how many of the homes were under contract within 30 days, in addition to how often they sold at or above the list price, to determine if one time of year was better than another to list a home. The study focused on 7 million homes that were listed starting in 2010 through 2014.
The research team concluded Spring is generally the best time to list your home. However, the other seasons were close behind, if not ahead of Spring, depending on your market area. Researching your local area is the ideal way to determine when to list a property.
In the last 5 years 39% of homes listed in Spring (between March 21 and June 20) were under contract within 30 days and 15% sold over list price. During Winter (Dec 21-March 20) 38% of the homes listed were under contract within 30 days and 14% sold over list price. Summer (June-Sept. 20) was at 36% under contract within 30 days and 12% sold over list price. With Fall (Sept 21-Dec 20) trailing at 34% of listed homes going under contract within 30 days and 11% sold over list price
The local market in which you are listing your home has a great impact on which is the best season to sell. For example, in California (Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and San Francisco) Winter and Spring tied for the best seasons to list your property. However, in Sacramento, CA, Winter had 10% of homes listed under contract within 30 days and Spring was at 8%. Yet in Seattle, Spring had 18 % of the listings under contract within 30 days, compared to 16 % for Winter and 14 % for Summer and Fall.
Overall there is not a huge percentage difference in which season you list a property for sale. However, it’s crucial to know your market area and really understand what type of buyer would fit your property. Take Florida for example, if you have what you think is the best vacation home, fully furnished, it would be wise to find out if most who come from up North for the winter buy their second home in summer, fall, or spring. If it’s more of a beach vacation property, when do most buyers splurge for that luxury beach home?
Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist, reports that home prices also follow a seasonal pattern. Over 5 years, they saw prices up around 3% in Spring each month and drop about 1% each month during fall. Again, this statistic all falls back on doing your research and knowing which season in your area tends to pull in the higher prices based off the local market and recent sales. If you take the time to learn this crucial information you should feel very confident that you will be listing your home in the right season and have it sold at the highest price in the least amount of time.
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