It may surprise you to learn that the time of year that benefits sellers more than any other time are the months of November, December and January. Most often people assume that the spring and summer are the ideal times because the weather is nice, kids are getting out of school, people have more free time, etc. These perceived benefits are actually the primary reasons that waiting until the spring and summer can cost you money.
As we move into the holidays and winter months, sellers start taking their homes off the market in droves so that they can re-list in the spring, and the pace of new listings hitting the market slows dramatically. Historically , these three months have had the fewest amount of homes on the market all year. For example, in December 2010, there were 5,455 new listings that came on the market in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Compare that to April of this year, where 10,083 new listings came on the market, and you can see that there is nearly twice as much competition for home sellers in the spring than there is now. This mass exodus of inventory causes there to be much less homes for buyers to choose from, thus forcing the buyers to be more competitive with each other.
Now, the natural rebuttal to this would be, "Well aren't there more buyers in the spring and summer than the winter?" And the answer traditionally is yes--although this year there were actually more closed sales in October and November than March and April--but the biggest factor is the level of motivation of buyers shopping in winter/holiday months. While everyone else is spending time relaxing at home with their families during the holidays, these buyers are out there, driving in the snow and rain, and are actively looking for homes. This is because they are making buying a home their first and most focused priority. So while there may be fewer showings in the winter, each showing is typically much more qualified than a lot of the casual home buyers that come out in the spring.
If you are wondering if this may be the ideal time to sell your home or would just like an updated market analysis of what your home would sell for in today's market, call us today at 425-413-6428 or email us at info@HappyHomeTeam.com
