Real estate is a business that, a lot like fashion, has seasons when trends are in and trends are out. All manners of home buying and selling such as prices and inventory fluctuate greatly with the changing of the seasons. Although special factors, such as plummeting house prices, can affect how visible seasonal trends in real estate are, a few predictable patterns are always apparent from season to season.
Whether looking to to buy, sell or list, every current and potential home owner is subject to the mercy of these trends and as a result should familiarize with a few trends that can affect the way things will move for them within the market.
Listing
Listing is the first step in any process that involves buying or selling a home, and is better understood not within seasons, but within days of the week. Home owners looking to sell are forced to do a great amount of prep to ready their home for that fateful day: list day. Sellers and their agents work tirelessly to clean, paint and prep the home for photos and the eventual Sunday open house.
This is a lot of work that inevitably never goes according to plan, and as a result agents see great number of properties listed later on in the week like late Thursday or early Friday morning. Experts suggest making the property really stand out by listing earlier in the week, Tuesday at the latest, when not as many properties are flooding the listings pages. This will give potential buyers ample time to see the listing and plan for a visit to the Sunday open house, building momentum and strengthening prospects in the process.
Selling
Much attention is given to the spring season as the busiest time for real estate transactions, but really at this time the market is flooded with inventory, which is a great challenge to home sellers. Although holiday and winter months like November and December are considered unconventional times to sell, the truth is buyers never really stop looking.
Traditionally, these months see low inventory levels, which make them a prime time to sell a home. With the majority of homes going on the market in spring, listing at a time when inventory is low will give the seller a greater opportunity to keep their home out of the general fray as well as get top dollar for their home.
Buying
Buying a home is a process that requires extensive research and leg work. As a result, buying a home can be unpredictable. One predictable factor in home buying is inventory will rise in spring and fall, making them prime times to buy. With more competition, home owners will see the need to bring down prices, which can mean a catching a great bargain when inventory is at its peak.
Home buyers will also have more options to work with, giving them a greater chance of finding the perfect home.
