Thanks to softening mortgage rates and stabilizing home price growth, this year’s spring homebuying season is expected to be a busy one. Renewed demand provides sellers with an opportunity to receive higher offers — if they’re strategic about when to list.
According to Attom Data Solutions latest analysis of 28.5 million home sales from 2011 to 2018, homeowners would be smart to sell their homes in May (+7.4%) or June (+9.2%), when homes are selling for at least 7 percent more than its actual value.
For example, the median sales price for June was $200,000 although the median home values for that month hovered around $183,124. In May, homes with a median value of $176,875 sold for $190,000 — a $13,125 premium.
On a day-by-day basis, the analysis revealed that homes sold on June 28 (+10.8%); May 31 (+10.7%); June 21 (+10.7%); June 20 (+10.6%); and May 24 (+10.5%) garnered the best seller premiums.
Attom chief product officer Todd Teta said the trend holds true for most markets and sellers, since buyers simply prefer shopping during the spring and summer when the weather is warmer and schedules are more flexible.
“There are more buyers in the market in the spring and summer due to a few variables — school is out, post-winter weather, post-super bowl so no football on the weekends, etc.,” he explained in an emailed statement to Inman. “And with more buyers creating more demand during those months, there’s a 90-120 day lag, which then opens the window for those homes to close in May or June.”
Furthermore, Teta says increased inventory isn’t expected to lower seller premiums for the 2019 spring homebuying season.
“In spite of more homes being on the market, our perspective is home prices are stable to slightly increasing this year,” he added. “The data is starting to reflect that home prices are not necessarily declining as we’re still seeing price increases remaining strong.”
On the flip side, January (+3.7%), October (+3.3%) and December (+3.3%) are the least favorable months to sell, since seller premiums decline to as low as 3.3 percent.
Methodology
For this analysis ATTOM Data Solutions looked at any calendar days in the last eight years (2011 to 2018) with at least 10,000 single family home and condo sales. There were 362 days that matched this criteria, with the four exceptions being Jan. 1, July 4, Nov. 11 and Dec. 25. To calculate the premium or discount paid on a given day, ATTOM compared the median sales price for homes with a purchase closing on that day with the median automated valuation model (AVM) for those same homes at the time of sale.