When is the best time to sell your home?

When is the best time to sell you home?

“Spring” is what most people will say.

But the evidence strongly suggests that this is another property myth, somewhat perpetuated by the property industry and the general media.

There is nothing better than having the return of warmer weather coinciding with lovey pictures of homes for sale.

It’s a Morning TV, evening news and weekend newspaper wonderland.

If you examine the statistics, spring is not the best time to sell a dwelling.

The best time to sell an older property is in late summer, whilst the best time to sell new property is in the first half of the year.

Seasonal factors really play a minor role in the sale of a property – it has more to do with demand and supply at the time.

Often, the supply of property on the market increases in spring – most believe the myth; yet demand does not.

Buyers have more to choose from and hence reduce their offers in terms of price and conditions.

Spring, as a result of all the hype, is often a buyer’s market. 

And perhaps this is really what real estate agents want to happen.

And why not?

It helps to have lots of stock to sell before they nick off on their summer holidays.

Our research shows that:

• There is little difference in actual price growth when it comes to seasons, with summer winning with a slight margin of between 2% and 5%. 
• The same applies to rental growth – most rental growth occurs in winter (as listings are in shorter supply).
• There is also little difference in the number of properties actually sold between seasons – if anything, more sell during the first four or five months of the year.  The main reason for the early annual peak in sales is that buyers have more time on their hands to inspect properties during the January school holidays and during the Easter break.

Ignore the crowd

So, maybe it is best to ignore the crowd and don’t list your property for sale in spring – do it in summer instead.

Keen to hear your thoughts.