One of the most common questions I receive as a real estate agent is :”What is the best time to sell my home?” (The other common questions is : “What's the best time to buy a home?”)
Sellers have to be careful whom they ask this question: Some real estate agents will reply “Right Now”, no matter what time of year it is. A client of mine called me, telling me that he had bumped into a REALTOR at a local gym, and had been advised that ‘Right Now' was a great time to list his condo.
It was mid-January, condo sales were at an all-time low and there were in fact 6 other units in my clients complex for sale…..and HAD BEEN for sale for several months. Clearly, “RIGHT NOW” was NOT the correct answer. But how do we determine which is the right time to sell (or at least LIST) a house or condo in Winnipeg?
Two factors in selling a home
There are two main factors involved in determining the best time: One is “How many listings are available for sale?” and the other is “How many buyers are looking to buy right now?”. Neither of these factors can be used in a vacuum. It's like knowing how fast you're going, but not knowing the distance of your destination. Or, knowing how far you have to go, but not knowing the speed at which you're travelling. So lets take a look at the first of these factors; How many listings are available at any given time in Winnipeg!
Listing your home: What’s the competition?
Let's say that you're thinking of selling a 1,200 ft bungalow: It would be in the sellers best interest if there were NOT another 15 similar homes in your neighbourhood for sale at the same time. That's the sellers competition, and the fewer homes for sale, the better for the seller. Let's take a look at available houses and condos on the 15th of each month, in 2018. These numbers reflect available homes ON that date, IN Winnipeg (including Headingley and E.St Paul.
Here we see that from a pure competition standpoint, January and February have the fewest listings available. Thats good for sellers, however how many buyers are actually BUYING in those months? Thats the second part of the equation. Lets take a look at buyer activity thruout 2018.
Here we can see that for houses, January and February show the lowest buyer activity. Condos saw an anomalous spike in February, but certainly December and January were the lowest buyer activity by far.
So if we went by THIS chart, then listing your home in April thru July would be best. However, as mentioned earlier, we need to look at both factors and how they interact and relate to one another. For example, available listings might increase one month by 25%, making it tougher to sell your home. But if buyer activity increased by 40%, it's actually BETTER for the seller overall.
Combine the two stats
So how do we determine this? The answer is called “Inventory Levels”…. it's the answer to the question: “If no one listed their home from here on, how long would it take to sell all available homes at the current rate of sale”. It measures current available home levels against current buyer activity. The result is given in “Days of Inventory”, and the lower that number, the hotter the market. Here are the results for 2018's Housing Market in Winnipeg.
Now we see that the increased buyer activity in the months of February and March are starting to heat up the real estate market, and end in a real sellers market in the months of April – July.
Best Time To Sell my Home?
In a nutshell, if a home seller has the option, they are well advised to list their homes anytime from February to June of the year. Now this is a very general response: A general market report like this does not address your specific neighbourhood, price range, style of home etc….
For example, if you're living in Lindenwoods, and there are currently no homes in your price range for sale, it may be a great time to sell, no matter what time of year it is. Alternately, if your neighbourhood has 5 homes just like yours for sale, it may be a BAD time to list.
When you are ready to sell your home, you should contact me. You'll get a no-obligation, no-nonsense look at the market and your best options for selling your home.
Book Your No-Obligation Market Eval. & Consultation
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About the Publisher
Bo Kauffmann is a residential real estate agent with over 18 yrs experience in helping buyers and sellers achieve their goals. Inducted into the REMAX Hall of Fame in 2010 and receiving the REMAX Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, Bo has sold over 500 houses and condos in the Greater Winnipeg market. He is an accredited buyer representative (A.B.R.) and a Luxury Home Marketing Specialist. Bo provides exceptional service to First-Time Home-Buyers, Seniors looking to downsize and Home Sellers of all ages. He can be reached easily By E-Mail or call/text him Call/Text HereNever miss an episode of our real estate podcast. Install our FREE Podcast App available on iOS and Android. For your Apple Devices, click here to install our iOS App. For your Android Devices, click here to install our Android App. Check my videos on Youtube