Save Time and Money, the Spring Home Selling Season Starts… … …NOW!

And the Spring home selling season starts… … …NOW!

Perfect timing is everything, and never more so than choosing the ideal moment to put your house on the market.

The real estate market is most definitely picking up and just so you know, it’s usually a very short leap between gathering steam and full-on crazy. A fast paced market means more potential home buyers, but it also means more competition. You can minimize your days-on-market, and maximize your monetary returns by listing your home in early Spring, and carefully calculating the original list price of your property.

Considering a lack of defined seasons here in Arizona, you might not think that our real estate market would experience the same seasonal highs and lows that the rest of the country is familiar with. But weather aside, additional factors having an effect on the market are strong motivators in our market as well.

The school year is probably the biggest driving force for seasonal real estate sales nationwide. From late spring to mid Summer, move-up home buyers control the market.

— See our Cash Back Discount for Teachers Buying or Selling a Home —

In retirement areas such as ours, late summer and early fall can also see an influx of active adult home buyers, but in an entirely different square-footage and price-range neck of the woods.

It stands to reason that each geographic area is going to have a unique contributor to market activity. But as the statistics in the charts below illustrate, April is a ‘top seller’ in any region.

Selling in April Could Save You Time and Money, Realtor.com Reports

By Liz Dominguez

Sellers are often faced with a difficult question: “When should I list my home for sale?” Each season has its own pros and cons. The winter months, for example, are slower so there is less inventory competition. The spring market, however, is abuzz with new buyers coming out in full force. For the best answer, the question needs to be expanded to “When should I list my home for sale if I live in XXX?”, because according to a new realtor.com® report, location is key.

Here’s the best time to list for the top 50 largest U.S. metros, according to the report:

Based on several factors—including trends in median listing prices, property views on realtor.com, home price drops, median days on market and the number of listings on the market in the last three years—realtor.com determined that the best time to sell, on average, is the first week of April. Why? Competition is still low, but buyers are out in droves, snapping up homes and driving up home values.

“June is often considered the peak of home-buying season, but our analysis found the first week of April is best for sellers looking to maximize list price, and also reduce the risk of price cuts and competition from other sellers,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com. “Given the time it takes from listing to close, putting a home on the market in early April positions sellers to attract buyers seeking to close and move before the beginning of school year.”

Properties listed this week see about 14 percent more views on average, and compared to last year’s weekly average, there’s also 5 percent less competition and so homes sell 9 percent (or 6 days) faster, on average. Declining mortgage interest rates may also play a role in April’s healthy buyer demand. Compared to the near 5 percent rates of Nov. 2018, rates today are much lower, trending below 4.5 percent.

Sale values may also increase this week. Homes listed between March 31 and April 6 are typically priced 6 percent higher than at the beginning of the year, states the report. While June brings even higher list prices, the chance for a reduction also increases toward the end of summer as buyers retreat.

Sellers, list your home in April, enjoy a quick market time and save those pennies for a rainy day!

For more information and to read the entire report, visit www.realtor.com. This was first published on RISMedia’s Housecall. Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s associate content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at ldominguez@rismedia.com. Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2019. All rights reserved.