Should I list in the Spring or Summer?

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I’m going to answer an important question today. The question is should I list my home in the spring or in the summer? The timing piece is important regardless of what kind of market we’re in. At the heart of this I want to share with you mostly that this is not a black and white answer. We have to understand what kind of market we’re in, we have to understand what timing means and ultimately how you can win regardless of what you do if you do it right.

My answer is . . . it depends

It depends on what the reply is, it depends on what inventory levels are. Real estate markets are defined by inventory. In other words, supply and demand. That means homes available at any given time relative to the number of buyers that are available to purchase them. We happen to be in what’s called an extreme sellers’ market, which means that there are more buyers than there are homes available. Extreme sellers’ market means the pendulum has swung from the far right over the far left and it’s hovering there. Hovering there until such time that it begins to swing back. And when it does, it moves quickly, so this market will shift. The question is, should I list my home now, which is the Spring time, somewhere between February and June. Then the summer market would be late May early June all the way to August. Those are the two sections of time where inventory is at its highest and sellers are going to put their homes on the market. Of course, people list and sell throughout the year, but these are the primary times. Inventory typically peaks in August, and then it starts to trail off down the other side to December. January is the lowest inventory.

Supply and demand works in the housing market too

What does this mean to you? It means that you’re going to maximize your home’s price by selling when there are fewer competitors. By virtue of the law of supply and demand, one has a greater chance of getting a higher price when there are fewer options for buyers, which happens to be before summer. Most sellers wait until summertime for a slew of reasons. One of which is the kids are out of school, which makes it easier. Also, it’s warmer. It’s a better experience. All those things don’t take away from the fact that when inventory is low, demand is high and so is pricing. To give you an example, in March of 2020, there were 6,651 listings in my market, and in March of 2021, only 2,800 listings.

It means that you're going to maximize your home's price by selling when there are fewer competitors.

That’s a 58% decrease for the month of March. That is a staggering decrease. Sellers that have their homes on the market now through the end of the school year are going to stand a better chance because of supply and demand. If you want to know what that looks like for you, there are ways to do that. Simply reach out to us here at Yoder Real Estate and we’re here to help you with that.

The best way to do that is to go to our website yoderrealestate.com. We’re here to help you with home staging advice, and getting your home ready for sale. If you want to know your home’s value, we can help you with that as well. And finally, if you ask about our move easy program, which is where we negotiate to have you stay in your home for up to and sometimes beyond 100 days after you have an offer on your house.

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