As the winter months approach, travel and holiday plans might delay listing your house on the market. A busy time of year, adding a real estate transaction to the mix could bring about undue stress and headaches during the most wonderful time of the year. Furthermore, in cold and temperate climates, you might feel your curb appeal will be stronger once you can get back out into the garden.
Winter might not be the most convenient time to sell your house, but some figures indicate it could be the best. Real estate site Redfin conducted an analysis of listings between 2011 and 2013, and found that winter listings were more likely to sell, more likely to sell quickly and more likely to net sellers the best price for their property.
Overall, the likelihood of unloading a house is 9 percent greater if sellers list the property between December and March. During the rest of the year, 55-57 percent of listed homes sold within six months, compared to 65 percent during winter. The average time on the market hovers slightly over a month during warmer months, where on average, homes listed around the holidays were purchased in 26 days flat.
“The data contradicts the popular sentiment that selling a home during winter is more difficult because there are fewer people looking to buy,” said Christin Camacho of Redfin.” Further, the advantage of selling a home in winter holds true in temperate climates as well as those with harsh winters. In each of the 19 markets analyzed in this report, including Boston and Chicago, home sellers were better off listing their homes in the winter than during any other season.”
The site also reported that homes sell 1.2 percentage points closer to the list price, which could be a nice holiday gift for sellers.