The best time of the year to market your property

We are now officially at the back end of the year what with the clocks having been turned. The nights are now dark, the sun is hiding away, and the question every morning is whether to wear two layers or three.

But what does the coming winter mean for the property market? We often hear that more properties are sold in the summer than in the winter. Let’s look at some statistics to see if this still holds true.

According to a study carried out by Rightmove, there were 150 properties sold in the BH8 area between October and December 2015. There were 128 properties sold in the BH8 area between October and December 2016.

According to the same study, there were 138 properties sold in the BH8 area between July and September 2015. There were 129 properties sold in the BH8 area between July and September 2016.

As you can see based on the above stats, the time of year doesn’t actually affect the number of properties sold in the BH8 area. In fact, you’ll see that in the last two years, more properties were sold in the winter months than during the summer period. An interesting additional statistic to add is the following, also from Rightmove.

Between October and December 2015, there were 190 new properties brought to market in BH8. There were 148 new properties brought to market between October and November 2016 (the December statistics for that period were not available).

Between July and September 2015, there were 225 new properties brought to market in BH8. There were 273 new properties brought to market between July and September 2016.

This interesting data allows us to conclude that many more properties were brought to market during the summer months while the number of actual properties sold was very similar across both times of the year. What could be the cause of this?

There are a number of reasons for buying a property but they normally revolve around a need or a want. The need buyers don’t worry about what time of the year it is or what the weather is like – they need to move. When they move is way down on their to-do list in this case.

Buyers who buy out of want will buy with their head and be looking for a good deal. They will thus be more reactive to the time of the year and what the property looks like in the summer over the winter. They have the luxury of buying something when a suitable option comes up rather than having to rely on what’s already there when they need to move.

The above statistics aren’t the only reason to make a decision on when exactly to market. Going solely on stats would suggest bringing your property to market in the winter. But is that definitely the right choice for you and your property? Does the timing fit in with the reason for selling? Who is likely to buy your property? Is your property likely to be part of a chain? At what time of the year does your type of buyer normally buy?

There is a long list of reasons for why a seller markets a property at a certain time. Always make sure to know the questions and answers to give you the right result. There are many more interesting articles about the property market in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas available at www.propertyblogbournemouth.com and www.gordonbarker.com. Check them out – we’d love to hear your thoughts about the talking points currently swimming around our industry.