Is summer a good time to sell your property?
In Australia, spring is often considered the prime time to sell a property. But what if you miss that window or circumstances see your property on the market over summer and into the festive season?
Well, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, there are some distinct advantages to selling your property over summer that people often fail to appreciate.
The state of the market
Summer and the festive season offer some interesting trends when it comes to the property market.
Typically, listing volumes stay strong through late November and into early December before gradually declining in the lead-up to Christmas.
Christmas and New Year are then traditionally quiet across the property market with sellers often delaying bringing their property to market until late January when there’s renewed enthusiasm in the market.
From there, CoreLogic notes “new listings normally increase significantly in late January through to late March, with a second wind in the weeks leading up to Easter”.
So that’s the trend, but for sellers looking to go against the grain, there are some advantages to listing your home and bringing it to market over summer.
Less competition
One bonus of summer and the holiday season is that few properties come onto the market. For those who do decide to go ahead and sell, that means there’s less competition.
And yes, there are still buyers out there seeking to secure a home, even though it’s holiday season. Often, they also have a little extra time on their hands to attend things like open homes.
An influx of new buyers
If your property is located in a tourism hotspot, summer and Christmas can actually be an ideal time to sell.
Why? Well because in regions like coastal communities or lifestyle locations there’s often an influx of people, some of whom are potential buyers.
The expat trend
There’s a quiet trend that happens over the summer holidays that can also be beneficial for selling.
Over Christmas, expats often return home to Australia, and if they’re seeking to relocate back here in the near future, this is the time when they’re house hunting.
New year, new home
One of the key reasons spring is such a bumper season for selling is because people often hope to be in their new home for Christmas.
But there’s also an array of people who are seeking out a property for the start of the new school year, and often they’re using the Christmas holidays as the time to scout out and purchase that home.
Seasonal opportunity
Finally, some homes just lend themselves to selling during summer, and this is particularly the case in lifestyle and coastal locations which capture a real holiday vibe.
Buyers in the market for these properties are potentially those looking for a holiday home, an investment that they later retire to or a property they can use for short-term letting.
If your home offers this type of potential, summer is an ideal time to showcase it to the market.
A market that never sleeps
There’s a lot of airtime devoted to discussing when exactly is the right time to sell a property. But the reality is the real estate market operates in all seasons, at all times of year.
For some properties, coming onto the market over the summer and Christmas period offers a very real opportunity to bypass any competition and showcase your property to buyers who are actively on the lookout for a new home.
How we can help
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