If you are planning to sell your home this year, you can increase your odds of success by listing it later this spring.
The ideal time to list your home this year could be the last two weeks in May, according to Zillow. An analysis of 2024 sales data found that homes sold for 1.6% more during the last two weeks of May, a boost of an average of $5,600 over selling at other times of the year.
Search activity tends to rise right before Memorial Day, Zillow says. Shoppers are highly motivated to find new digs at that time because it falls before summer vacations start and well before the new school year begins in the fall.
More shoppers in the market create greater competition, which in turn allows sellers to get a higher price for their home.
However, Zillow also cautions that despite its forecast, things could be different this year. Low inventory and unpredictable mortgage rate trends are “creating their own seasonality in the housing market,” Zillow says.
In a summary of Zillow’s findings, Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, says:
“In the past few years, mortgage rate fluctuations upended the traditional spring home shopping season. Buyers who are on the edge of qualifying for a loan jump in and out of the market depending on what’s happening with rates. When rates fall, more buyers rush in, putting upward pressure on prices, which could happen at any time of year.”
Also, the best time to sell a home can vary depending on where you live.
For example, in Austin, Texas, and San Diego, the best time to sell is the last two weeks of March. At the other end of the spectrum, Phoenix residents are likely to command the best price if they sell in the last two weeks of November.
Also, timing your listing can pay bigger dividends in some markets than others. Homeowners in San Jose, California, who listed a home in the last two weeks of March 2024 fetched a sales price that was 5.3% more than at any other time of year. That equated to an extra $93,200 in San Jose’s pricey market.
In other places, the premium for timing things correctly is modest. In Orlando, Florida, the best time to list your home is the first half of May. But last year, homeowners there only netted an extra 0.9% by selling at that time, which put an average of $3,700 in their pockets.
Before you put your home on the market, make sure you understand the “12 Costly Mistakes Home Sellers Make.”
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