Homes Sell Better in the Winter?

RedFin Corporation, a Seattle based real estate company, released some statistics on selling a home in the winter versus other times of the year. The data is from approximately 750,000 homes sold over a year across the country, and then analyzed by season. Here are the basics:

• Homes listed in the winter sell faster compared to the summer: 46 days versus 55 days.
• Homes listed in the winter are more likely to sell at all: 59.2% versus 53.1%
• Homes listed in the winter sell closer to their original list price: a drop of 2.7% in winter versus a 5.2% drop in the summer, which is more than $7,000 on a $300,000 home.

Surprised? Most people would be. But the fact is, there are less homes on the market, which means less competition for qualified home buyers. There are less home buyers in the winter, also, but the ones that are looking are the really serious buyers and not just the lookers and nosey neighbors, who we don't want anyway.

The time of year where a home sells the fastest is still the spring, spending 15% less time on the market than the median for the entire year. Winter takes second place in this category, though (over summer and fall), selling 6% faster than the median.

I'm not guaranteeing that your home will sell quicker and for more money than other times of the year... or even at all. There are too many other factors and variables that come into play to make an across-the-board statement like that. What I am saying is that in most cases, winter is NOT a bad time to list and sell your property, and if you want to sell - don't wait until spring!

- Jim Armstrong
Want to talk? Call me at 978-394-6736
Armstrong Field Real Estate

http://blog.redfin.com/boston/2011/12/should_i_wait_until_spring_to_list_my_home_-_boston_edition.html