Roseville, Calif. – The spring season is the best time to list a home. Home owners have a better chance of selling for more than the list price in the spring, and there’s a greater likelihood for going into contract within 30 days. The spring season just barely edged out the winter as the best time to sell so if you are considering selling, don’t discount the winter months.
A recent report from Redfin indicated 18.7 percent of spring listings received above asking prices while winter listings came in a close second at 17.5 percent of listing getting above asking prices. Spring listings had 48 percent of the homes sold within 30-days while, again, winter listing came in at 46.2 percent being sold during the same time frame.
Here are some additional findings from the study:
* Spring – 18.7 percent sold above asking price
* Winter – 17.5 percent
* Summer – 15.1 percent
* Fall – 14.7 percent
During the winter months there are fewer buyers but those who are looking tend to be serious buyers. More often they need to move so they are less likely to make low offers and they tend to want to close faster. These two items can make a sale move smoother. In addition to fewer buyers the competition for sellers is generally less as there are not as many homes on the market.
Why are the fall months not as good as other times of the year? The study points out only 41 percent of fall listings are sold within 30-days and just 14.7 percent go over asking price. We have always seen a decline in activity during the fall months and I attribute it to families and school. Parents want to move and be settled before their children start school and then we have the lead up to the holidays.
Listing at the start of the year may work to a seller’s advantage no matter where they live. Sellers are actually not dependent on living in a cold or warm weather climate when it comes to seasonal fluctuations in the real estate market, with winter and spring remaining the top selling seasons even across markets.
Our Sacramento market is lower than the national averages in the percent of sale being sold for over asking price and summer tends to be our lowest months.
Here are the numbers for Sacramento:
* Spring – 10.1 percent sold above asking price
* Winter – 8.7 percent
* Fall – 8.3 percent
* Summer – 7.7 percent
