Listing agents have less than a month to prepare home sellers for the spring selling season, according to Realtor.com’s annual “Best Selling Days” analysis released Thursday. The portal says the week of April 14 this year is the best time to close a deal, as volatile mortgage rates have a dual impact on the market.
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Listing agents have less than a month to prepare home sellers for the spring selling season, according to Realtor.com’s annual “Best Selling Days” analysis released Thursday.
The portal says the week of April 14 this year is the best time to close a deal, as volatile mortgage rates have a dual impact on the market. Small interest rate declines throughout March encouraged more buyers to try their luck, while home sellers (88.5% of whom had interest rates below 6%) were still waiting for a larger drop.
Danielle Hale | Chief Economist, Realtor.com
Historically, listings posted during the week of April 14th received 18.4% more views than usual. However, by 2023, the growth in views per listing jumped to 22.8%, compared with the historical average of 23.9%.
However, this April’s performance may not match that of 2023, as 30-year fixed mortgage rates are hovering around 7.6%. “Demand will depend in part on mortgage rates – falling rates could increase demand in the spring, while stable or rising rates could prompt some buyers to delay purchases,” the report said.
Despite pending buyer demand, the report says home sellers can still expect pricing premiums and faster listing-to-sale timelines due to fewer sellers in the market.
Listed home prices in the week of April 14 were 1.1% higher than the weekly average and 10.4% higher than in January. Homes on the market this week also tend to sell nine days faster than the average week, and in 2023, homes on the market during the week of April 14 sold even faster, at 46 days, which is 6 days less than the full-year average of 52 days .
If the trends in both metrics hold, home sellers could find their homes selling faster than even the 46-day average for 2023 and for $34,000 more than what they listed at the beginning of the year.
“Spring is typically the peak season for home sales, and there tend to be more buyers earlier in the year,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a prepared statement. “Because listing a home for sale is a process, Sellers should start preparing now so they can list their home when conditions are most favorable and have the best chance of selling their home quickly and at a competitive price.”
If you can’t get a four-week turnaround on your clients, Realtor.com says there’s another prime sales window at the end of June, when listing price growth from the start of the year reaches a near-peak of 13.8%. However, price increases in mid-summer brought more sellers out of the shadows, with the number of new sellers increasing 49.3% compared to January.
“By entering the market earlier, sellers can head off competition and increase their odds of successful closings and favorable terms,” the report says. “Working with an experienced agent can help sellers prepare and navigate local market dynamics.”
Email Marianne McPherson
