Should I List My Home Now? Has the Spring Buying Season Become a Thing of the Past?

Residential real estate, like many industries, has a seasonality associated with it. Historically, the number of homes sold in the spring has almost always been greater than any other time of the year. This fact even has its own name--the spring buying season.

But things changed in 2020 and the seasonality generally associated with real estate listing/purchasing didn’t happen in a typical fashion. The spring market was limited by the continued outbreak of the virus and sales were pushed back later in the year with fall and winter seeing a dramatic increase in home sales over previous years. The only thing that really held the market back was the incredibly low inventory available to buyers.

How About This Winter?

Although some experts thought we’d return to a more normal seasonality this winter with a decline in both the number of buyers in the market and houses available for sale, data now shows that neither of those situations has occurred and buyer demand remains strong. This unusual buyer demand indicates that this could be a winter real estate market like never before.

Sellers Are About To List – Right Now

In response to the buying frenzy, many savvy Sellers are opting to list their homes in advance of the “spring buying season.” Instead of waiting for the normal spring buying market, new research indicates that homeowners thinking about selling are about to put their homes on the market to take advantage of the abundance of buyers who are in the market while interest rates remain relatively low.

Bottom Line

If you’re thinking of buying or selling, now is the time to talk, as the market is poised to change in an unexpected way. Let’s plan your next move together.