Spring is typically when most home selling activity begins, but home sales really heat up in the summer months. Real estate is all about location, though, and where you live may have an impact on the peak selling season for your home. Late spring and early summer are the best times of year to sell a home.

The Season Makes the Difference

The fall and winter months of October and December have the lowest seller premiums earned. Warmer weather usually brings out more homebuyers, making it a good time to sell your home. Buyers who file their taxes early may have extra cash from tax refunds, and often want to get settled into their new home during their kids’ summer school break.

Long summer days, school breaks and warm temperatures allow you to charge a premium for a home in May, June and July. Expect a bit of a slowdown in August, when many people take their summer vacations. If you live in an area where summers are very hot, such as Arizona or Nevada, you may find it easier to sell in the early spring, or even in fall and winter months.

Once school starts, homebuyers aren’t willing to pay as high a premium. However, if you live in the Northeast or someplace where the leaves change, you may attract buyers who don’t have children or prefer to relocate during the cooler fall months and avoid the warm summer temperatures.

Winter is generally the slowest season for home sales, with many buyers distracted by the holidays or sidelined by weather. You may need to lower your price to attract buyers during this busy season. However, winter may be the best time to sell your home if you live in a warm-weather state like Arizona, when snowbirds may decide to buy a second home to escape harsh Northeast or Midwest winters.

A seller’s market is when there are more homebuyers than there are available homes for sale. Sellers have more control to demand premiums and may even require buyers to offer more than the sales price in a very competitive market.

A buyer’s market usually lasts about two to three years, when there are more houses for sale than there are house hunters. As a seller, you’ll need to offer more incentives to compete for buyers and be willing to adjust your price down if needed.

Every area is different; when the weather gets more manageable in Florida, the housing market picks up which is usually around November to February but in the North, places like Columbus Ohio and Colorado Springs, the spring and summer are typically busier. However, if you need to sell, you need to sell and same goes with buyers. It is what it is but if you have the luxury of choosing when to list, take the advice of your real estate agent for the best time of year to sell.