I had a homeowner from Rough Common email me the other day. She said that she had been following my blog (the Canterbury Property Blog) for a while and wanted to pick my brain on when is the best time of the year to sell a property. Trying to calculate the best time to put your Canterbury property on the market can often seem something akin to witchcraft and, whilst I would agree that there are particular times of the year that can prove more productive than others, there are plenty of factors that need to be taken into consideration.
Even if you are putting your property on the market, you
don’t know how long it will take to find a buyer - no crystal ball to help with
that one. At the moment, the latest set of figures for all 27 estate agents in Canterbury,
show the average length of time it takes to find a buyer for any Canterbury
property is as follows….
Detached 84 days
Semi 81 days
Terraced 102
days
Flat 160
days
Overall average 124
days
If we roll the clock back to January 2016, the overall
average time it took to find a buyer (again using data from all of the 27 Canterbury
Estate Agents) was 118 days.
So, on the face of it, things haven’t vastly improved over
the last six months or so. But, when I looked at the data going back to 2008, and
every Spring since then, the average length of time it takes to sell a property
usually drops between January and the Summer months, for it to rise on the run
up to Christmas. For example ..
Winter 2008 - 151 days Summer
2008 - 121 days
and in more recent
times …
Winter 2013 - 138 days Summer
2013 - 128 days
Winter 2014 - 141 days Summer
2014 - 111 days
Winter 2015 - 118 days Summer
2015 - 103 days
Coming back to the present, even if you placed your property
on the market today in Canterbury, if it takes you on average a little under
eighteen weeks to find a buyer, then you can expect solicitors and the chain to
take an additional eight and twelve weeks after that, before you move. It comes
down to personal choice as to when you place your property on the market. Children
often affect the decision. On one side you might delay putting that for sale
board in your front garden so you can move in the summer school holidays, but
on the other side, you might want to move sooner to be in the catchment area of
a preferred school, in plenty of time for the next academic year?
There are times of the year when it's better to sell, and
times when waiting a little longer can pay off in the long run. In a nutshell, I
would say this is the way of the seasons ..
WHEN TO MARKET?
Spring: Customarily there are more house-buyers as the
Daffodils show themselves
Summer: Sellers may miss out on house-buyers being on
holiday
Autumn: The enthusiasm for buying homes returns
Winter: Interest diminishes as festive period looms
What this means to buyers and landlord investors is that
they often pick up a bargain in later months of the year, as there is less
competition from owner occupiers. So, whilst there are better months to achieve
a quicker sale, the only piece of advice I can give to every home owner and landlord in Canterbury, is do the
right thing for yourself, do your homework and buy (and sell) with both your
head, as well as your heart.
For more thoughts on the Canterbury Property Market – visit
the Canterbury Property Market Blog www.canterburypropertyblog.com
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