Time it right
Planning to list your house soon? You just may have hit the sweet spot. According to a new study, homes listed in April and May sell the fastest and bring in the most profits.
List your house in spring for best results
A new study from Zillow shows that “mid-to-late spring” is the unequivocal best time to sell a house.
According to the data, homes listed in May sell for more than those listed in any other month of the year. And homes listed in April? They sell the fastest.
Here how Zillow Economist Jeff Tucker, sums it up: “The best windows to list your home and sell it in the shortest amount of time or for the most money, respectively, are slightly different. But in general, selling a home for sale in mid-to-late spring offers the most benefits for sellers in most large markets nationwide.”
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May vs. April homes for sale
All in all, homes listed in May sell for about 1% more than expected — or around $2,100 on the average home.
May is also the most profitable month to list your house in 17 of the top 35 metro markets. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, you can make a 2% premium on your home, or about $5,700, by listing in early May. Seattle’s premium is 1.8% for the same time period.
Though homes listed in May sell fast (about six days faster than average), it’s not the fastest-selling month by any means. That’d be April, when homes sell a full week faster than average. Home listed in April also bring in about a $1,500 premium over other months.
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Listing timing matters
Zillow’s study looked beyond monthly data, too. According to the findings, listings get their most attention in their first two days on the market. Interest starts to fade by mid-week, and listing views are halved by day 5 and then halved again by day 14.
Homes listed on Saturdays get the most total views, followed by those listed on Sunday and Friday.
“It turns out that a good bet is to list on a weekend,” Tucker says. “The difference between the best and worst days is about 24%: that is, nationwide, homes listed on Saturdays get seen about a quarter more in their first week than homes listed on a Tuesday.”
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