What is the Best Time of Year to Sell Your Home?

Like every home, every person’s motivation to sell is unique. Many factors can make the timing right to move forward with buying and selling in the current market. Whether it be a new job, finding your dream home for sale, or determining your current home no longer fits your needs, everyone has a different motivation that drives them to make a move.

In the summer through winter markets, sellers who are also home buyers have more opportunities in the more affordable and mid-price ranges to set up inspection, finance or home-to-sell contingencies. With these conditions, it can be a great time to buy and sell with the protection that you have a contractual contingency, with the opportunity to sell your current home.

There is a higher sales activity intensity of new listings selling in the first 30 days in the first half of the year, with upward pricing pressures. This is especially the case in the more affordable and mid-price ranges everywhere. Additionally, in the beginning of the high-end ranges close to the job centers, the market is strong. Starting in summer, in the more affordable and mid-price ranges, our market isn’t stagnant, but is still up-tempo – there’s often a shortage or low inventory levels of unsold homes.

If you’re considering listing in the current market, it’s a great idea to register for John L. Scott’s Property Tracker® to see what your direct area is doing. Users can save custom searches and receive instant notifications for new listings of interest and updates made to favorite listings. Searching by school district boundaries is a new John L. Scott option, which makes it easy to track homes that feed into schools of interest.

While this is typically the case, there are certain scenarios that could have a notable difference in net asset equity. One such example would be someone who moves from one price range that has been appreciating higher than another price range they are considering. However, when the timing is right for you, it’s usually the right time to move, especially if you’re buying and selling within same-market timing. We recommend looking at both the percentage and actual dollar appreciation differential of your home and your next home when considering buying and selling within same-market timing.

Though rates are higher than they’ve been in recent years, it’s important to understand that our current rates are still historically low. Past 30-year fixed loan rates have been six, seven, eight percent or higher depending on the year.