New listings always get the most attention in their first two days on the market – home shoppers are on the lookout for fresh listings to consider, and savvy buyers often take advantage of email alerts or other notifications to check out every new listing that meets their search criteria. But after the honeymoon period of the first few days, interest quickly fades.
Nationwide, the typical home listing only draws half as many views by day 5 as it did on the first day. And by the end of week 2, listings fall by half again, to one-quarter of their initial traffic.
And this drop-off in demand has real consequences for sellers, because the longer a home lingers on the market, the less likely it is to be sold at or above list price.
But if listing attention in that first week is so critical, what can a seller do to maximize those all-important first looks from potential buyers? It turns out that a good bet is to list on a weekend. Homes first listed on a Saturday followed closely by Sunday and then Friday, ultimately garnered more attention in their first week on market than homes listed in the middle of the week. The difference between the best and worst days is about 24%: that is, nationwide, homes listed on Saturdays get seen about a quarter more in their first week than homes listed on a Tuesday.
Sellers who want to take advantage of these findings should begin preparing early. Not starting the process sooner is the most common regret among sellers, in part because nearly three-quarters of sellers make at least one home improvement during the process, and at least a quarter of those said their projects took longer than expected.
But while Spring is undoubtedly the best time to sell by essentially every measure, when is the worst time to sell? If you try to sell your home in late December, your holidays will not be very happy. Buyers may be out doing any number of more-seasonal pursuits during this time, but whatever they’re doing they are clearly not out home shopping: U.S. Homes listed in late December sell for 1.5% less than average, a seasonal penalty half again more severe than the second-worst time (late November, 0.9% lower sales proceeds). The only silver lining to listing in December is that those homes only sell about 5 days slower than average. If speed is your goal, you cannot do worse than listing in November, when homes sell 12 days slower than average.
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