Imagine if the housing market was just like Wall Street. Brokers stood on the street corners, wearing funny colored jackets, waiving MLS sheets into the air while yelling, “Buy, buy, buy! Sell, sell, sell!”
Of course, there is a lot of research going on behind the scenes and those stock traders have it down to a science on when a stock should be held or sold. I can say real estate is similar in that respect. Market data such as the number of sold listings, days on market and selling price provides critical information that we Realtors use so that we can properly educate our clients on when they should buy or sell their homes.
With more than 150 people moving to Austin every day, it seems like any time of the year may be a good time to sell your Austin home! As of the time of this writing, the city of Austin Texas has less than 2 months of single-family home inventory on the MLS!
In the city of Austin, there are currently 1279 active single-family homes in the Austin MLS and there were 709 single-family homes that sold in the last 30 days.
As we all know, life just happens. Of course people will need to sell their home 365 days of the year and there will be a buyer looking all of those 365 days. Surprise job transfers, loss of jobs, divorce, marriage, or maybe that perfect house pops on the market and you need to take action even though you didn’t think you’d move for another six months. All are reasons for moving and they can take place any time of the year.
“Is Now a Good Time to Put MY Austin House on the Market?”
It is a widely known fact though that most people buy and sell during the summer months because the kids are out of school and 1) if they have to transfer schools it is easier to do so during the break and 2) there are less activities going on for the kiddos during the summer, so parents have more time to devote toward the move.
Check out this chart that compiles the MLS data for the last five years here in Austin. As you can see, things start to pick up every April, with home sales peaking in May, June, July and August, and then they start to slow down in September. Last year, 2013, July and August were the superstar months in Austin.
You may ask, “Not everyone has children, so why does the summer break affect everyone?” The answer stems from the Law of Large Numbers. Since there is a pool of people who find it most convenient to buy a home during the summer months, putting your home on the market during those months guarantees you a larger amount of potential buyers.
How much more money can selling during the peak months mean to a seller? Tens of thousands, according to the median data of Austin home sales:
If you would like to know what the statistics are based on your area or neighborhood, contact me today and I’ll be happy to provide you those numbers.
Do you fall under circumstances where you need to sell in the ‘off’ months? Do not fear! We have an outstanding marketing system that will get your home maximum exposure, no matter what the time of year.
In upcoming blogs, I plan to share tips on getting your home ready for the market. Check back often or better yet, call me today so you can get started!
