Worst Month to Sell a House
Generally, the worst months to sell a house are October, December, and January. Here’s why.
Written by Shannon Fitzgerald
Reviewed by Pat Roache
Table of Contents
- When is the worst time of year to sell a house?
- When is the best time of year to sell a house?
- What factors impact home prices?
- How to find great homeowners insurance
- FAQs
Load full table of contents
The worst months to sell a house are generally December, October, and January. The best month to sell a house is generally May.
As the real estate market continues to adjust to the pandemic, home sellers may find it challenging to get a pulse on shifting trends. While it’s clear that your house’s condition, age, and usable space impact its success amongst potential buyers, what time of year will best optimize your home sale?
Here to walk you through which months tend to have the most and least success when it comes to home selling, it’s
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When is the worst time of year to sell a house?
The worst time of year to sell a house is between October and February when the home-buying demand is usually lowest and the housing supply is higher.
According to yearly reports from ATTOM Data Solutions, the months of October, December, and January tend to be the worst months specifically. During this period, there is an observable drop in home sales, which is likely thanks to the following factors:
- Cold weather: Having an open house in winter can often take away from your house’s curb appeal. Not only will potential buyers miss some of your home’s amenities (like a pool, trees, and landscaping), but they will see the winter chores they’ll need to take on (like snow and ice removal) and you have much less daylight to work around.
- New school year: There are typically fewer buyers in October because families are too preoccupied with the events and transitions of their kids’ new school year to prioritize searching for a new home.
- Holiday season: Many families choose to hold off on house hunting until after the financial and logistical stress of the holidays is over.
Of course, the location of your home will have a heavy impact on how these factors impact your sale. A family home in
Florida
, for example, may sell better in the winter months when the weather is milder than in the summer when the outdoor heat can be excruciating. When is the best time of year to sell a house?
Late spring is almost universally the best time of year to sell a house. The first two weeks of May, in particular, net about 12.6% in seller returns (sales percentage over the house’s value) according to ATTOM’s analysis of homes from the last 10 years. To put that in context, the same data table reports that October gets the lowest seller returns—at 5.2%.
These warmer months of late spring and early summer lead to more potential buyers for a few reasons:
- Longer days: With more daylight to work with, you’ll have more opportunities to schedule showings with your real estate agent or coordinate open houses. Buyers are also more willing to head out and take a look, and the shining sun will be sure to catch your house’s good side.
- Better curb appeal: In most parts of the country, your house looks its best when the plants are growing and the sun is shining. All that hard work maintaining your lawn and gardens can come in handy here.
- Good school timing: Buying a new home in early spring gives families plenty of time to move and transition addresses between school years. Many families also use the school year as a deadline, which motivates them to get pre-approved for a mortgage to secure a house faster.
The real estate market as a whole is much more competitive during the spring and summer months than it is during fall and winter. Houses are more likely to generate quick interest and lead to multiple offers during this time, which gives the seller more leverage when negotiating a sale.
What factors impact home prices?
A home’s age, condition, and usable space impact how much it will sell for. But here are some other factors that have a sizable influence, as well.
Supply and demand
Pricing in the housing market fluctuates based on housing supply and buyer demand. Currently, we’re in a seller’s market on a national level, meaning that there are more interested buyers than there are homes available.
As most of us are aware, the pandemic has only made the housing shortage and demand more extreme. This has raised the median sales prices for homes strongly in the seller’s favor. However, demand could drop soon with mortgage rate hikes, leading to a housing market cool-down.
Still, you’ll want to get a read on your local housing market’s supply and demand before you decide to sell. If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at houses with a similar sales price and see how long they stay on the market and how much they end up going for. A licensed, local real estate agent can offer valuable guidance pinpointing these local market trends—and usually won’t require payment until your house is successfully sold.
Interest rates
When interest rates increase, so do mortgage rates. Because of this, buyers are less likely to be able to afford a new home, and demand decreases. Though this doesn’t mean you won’t find a buyer for your home, you’ll be less likely to sell above your asking price.
As of the end of 2022, the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates significantly on the housing market in an attempt to combat inflation. Because of this, higher monthly mortgage payments are starting to make buyers more reluctant to look for a new home, which is something to keep an eye on moving forward.
Location
Location, location, location! We’ve all heard real estate professionals emphasize it, and for good reason.
Not only does proximity to conveniences like grocery stores and parks impact your home’s desirability, but the demographic of your neighborhood also determines who might be able to afford your home and how much you can reasonably expect for it. For example, you can’t expect
New York City
home prices to fly in a Buffalo
suburb. But if you listed an NYC brownstone for the median sales price of a Lake Erie summer home you’d be far underselling. Your location can also impact the timing of your best and worst-selling months. Senior communities in Florida who are less impacted by the school year and suffer worse weather in the summer months may have more success selling in October than a home in a family-centric neighborhood of
Boston
. Bottom line: The timing, pricing, and overall value of your home are heavily impacted by its location, which is why it’s so important to pay close attention to housing market trends in your area.
Government policies
It’s a good idea to keep tabs on legislation like homebuyer tax credits, subsidies, and deductions that might incentivize buyers to purchase real estate. These government policies are put in place to jumpstart the housing market, and can often give buyers enough money to put down a solid down payment or qualify for a mortgage.
Therefore, if you need to sell your house during a less-than-ideal month—you may still find a healthy demand by working around government home-buying boosts.
How to find great homeowners insurance
Whether you profit big on your home sale or you decide to wait out the increasing mortgage rates, you can usually pocket a little extra cash by
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. By downloading
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car insurance
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* checking your rate won’t affect your credit score
FAQs
What is the most popular month for home sales?
The first two weeks of May are by far the most popular time of year for home sales. While home sellers will usually get the best offers during these two weeks, May, June, and July are the top three months to sell a house according to data from ATTOM.
What is the worst month to sell a house?
The worst month to sell a house tends to be October or December, depending on your location.
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