4 Reasons to List Your Home This Spring

Planning on selling your home, but think that it’s better to wait until fall to list it? You may want to reconsider. There are substantial benefits to putting your home on the market right now, and those ideal conditions may change by the time September rolls around.

Here are some benefits to listing your home for sale right now:

1. Statistically, the best time of the year to sell a house is the spring.

Buyers usually are plentiful during the spring, and they may still have their tax refund checks sitting safely in their savings account. Also, spring buyers have a lot of competition from all those other buyers who start searching this time of year. This often make buyers feel compelled to pay full price or even enter into a bidding war for something they really want. In fact, sales peak in the spring, which is probably why about 60% of people who move do it during the summer.

2. Mortgage rates are on the rise, and that will eventually affect buyers.

Mortgage rates have increased by one-half of a percentage point so far this year, but it has not  impacted buyer demand.  In fact, demand continues to grow this spring. But, if rates continue to inch upwards as predicted by experts, it may impact buyer demand by as soon as September. To sum it up, everyone is predicting higher rates, and today's rate might be as good as we'll see for years to come.

3. Buyers have less time to look at homes in the fall.

Spring and summer have longer daylight hours in which to view homes and more relaxed schedules for many families. With warm weather, sellers can really show off their outdoor living spaces and landscaping to their best advantage. Also, by mid-June, kids are not involved in after school sports and activities, and some people find that expectations on the job are more relaxed during this time of year. In contrast, fall brings the hustle and bustle of back-to-school for some buyers, more commitments, and darker evenings that make it harder to see houses after work or school.

4. It’s a seller’s market now, but it might not be in the fall.

Market experts are predicting that the seller’s market we have been experiencing (where the demand for homes from buyers exceeds the number of homes available for sale) may ease by September- perhaps to the point of becoming a balanced market. This means that buyers fighting over your home this spring may have more options to choose from come fall.

There is no “best” time to list your home, but there are times when it makes sense not to wait. With the current seller’s market, a prediction of changing conditions and rising interest rates, and the advantage of long days and beautiful weather, now is a great time to contact your Realtor and list your home for sale.