Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Copy Link
Question: My home has been on the market for the past several months and I have had very little traffic. Now that the summer is winding down and school is on the horizon is it true that because many buyers/sellers are pre-occupied with preparing and starting school, September is a bad month for home sales?
Answer: No there is no bad month for home sales; some are just better than others! By looking at the attached chart, you can see homes sell throughout the year. The general pattern is home sellers and buyers become more active in late winter and this continues for several months. (My unofficial start to the season is the first weekend after the Super Bowl, that’s when things really kick-off).
So mid-February until when school gets out in early June is the busiest period for real estate sales. There is an approximate 30-60 day time period from once a Purchase & Sales Agreement is signed, until closing, when ownership actually transfers from the seller to the buyer. Hence most closings occur April thru August and tapers off after that. The slowest time for sales is over the Holidays; mid-November until after the New Year. Closings in January/February are the lowest of the year.
So mid-summer is not the most active time of year, but there certainly are buyers out there. If you have had little traffic, then there is a problem. That problem, broadly speaking, is one of two things, or possibly both. Your home must “Show” well and be easily accessible. And it must be priced correctly for the current market. Both conditions are fixable in most cases and the longer the seller waits, the greater their financial damage. It is a fact that overpriced homes that stay on the market for longer than a couple of months will eventually sell for less than their fair market value.
