The Best Time of Year to List Your Home For Sale
Clients are always asking me what is the best time of year to list their home for sale. I often answer that there will be more buyers out looking for homes in the spring when the weather is nice, but I wanted to see if I could pinpoint an exact timeframe by looking at the data over the last several years.
Zillow recently released a report that homes listed between May 1 and May 15 sold an average of 18.5 days faster than homes not listed in that time span. On average, homes sold during this time also sold for 1% more than average. However, this data was collected from home sales across the country, in varying climates, and markets. How does the five county Denver Metro Area compare?
If we look at the data for the five county Denver Metro Area including, Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties we can see that since 2008 the highest monthly sales price has occurred in the month of June 77% of the time, and in July 23% of the time. With an average 40-day closing timeline, we then can derive a listing date somewhere within the month of May.
Weather does have an impact on the market historically, and with frequent spring rain and snow showers (more than 11 days of precipitation), a spring with more cloudy, rainy and/or snowy days will push the peak listing time to early June instead. However, the data shows that since inventory dropped below 8,500 new listings a month in 2014, a little more snow and rain hasn’t seemed to stop buyers from aggressively pursuing available properties.
In addition to the weather, more buyers are also in the market for a new home in the spring because they have received their tax rebate checks and can better afford their down payment. Family homes also tend to do better in the spring market as many children are just out of school and parents are compelled to secure a new home before the summer is over.
The worst month to list your home according to the data? January as it has the lowest monthly sales price 88% of the time.
Statistical data collected form Metrolist, Inc. RE Colorado – powered by Matrix.
http://www.thorntonweather.com/denver-climatology.php
