Timing isn’t everything, but it certainly matters. Listing a home in the spring can yield sellers a significant financial advantage.
Home sale data from 2024 shows that sellers who listed their home in the last two weeks of May netted an additional 1.6% on the sale, about $5,600 on the typical U.S. home. Sellers generally get better-than-average returns if they list between March 15 and July 31, but many factors affect the timing premium.
The housing market has undergone significant changes in recent years, and it has shifted around the optimal time for sellers. While late-April/early-May was traditionally considered the prime selling season, this trend has been disrupted by a confluence of factors, most notably the COVID-19 pandemic and fluctuating mortgage rates. In 2022, sellers nationwide saw the highest sale premium when they listed their home in late March, right before rates barreled past 5% and continued climbing. Buyers pulled back as the year progressed and so only the earliest sellers were able to cash in. In 2023, buyers held out late into the season in the hope that rates would go down, drawing the peak selling season all the way to June.
In 2024, the housing market saw a period of relative stabilization, with less fluctuation in prices and a less pronounced impact of seasonality on sales outcomes. Without a major catalyst altering the seasonality, sellers were less rewarded (and less punished) for their timing, and listing performance followed a more normal cycle.
The best time to list can vary widely by metropolitan area. It was as early as the second half of March in Austin, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle. In Phoenix, though, where sales started the year flat but ended 22% higher, it was the few sellers who listed in late November that actually saw the greatest rewards.
The sale price premium associated with listing at the local peak also varied widely. Major bonuses were found in San Jose (5.3%, $93,200), Los Angeles (3.9%, $39,300), and Cleveland (3.7%, $8,600), during peak seasons spread out from March through June. In less seasonal Orlando, however, homes only sold for 0.9% ($3,700) more during its early May peak period.
Timing a home sale around mortgage rates and local market dynamics is difficult and has varying benefits. This is one reason why it is so important for sellers to start working with an agent early, who can understand the individual home and when to market it in the local environment. The reality is most sellers don’t have the luxury of being able to wait for the right week and the right month to sell. Timing aside, sellers can still take advantage of other strategies to reach the most potential buyers. They can net top dollar by maximizing exposure, focusing on screen appeal, and highlighting in-demand features.
Methodology:
This analysis included 1.6 million transactions closed in 2024 for which complete data was available, including a listing history that could be matched to the transaction and a reliable Zestimate history. We calculate a premium by first establishing a non-seasonal benchmark for the expected sale price of homes. This benchmark is based on the Zestimate from 6 months before the sale, adjusted by the change over the following 6 months in smoothed and seasonally adjusted metro-level ZHVI over the following 6 months. The median ratio of the actual sale price to this benchmark for homes listed in a specific period is then compared to the median ratio for the entire year.
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