The ‘winter is a bad time to sell’ theory has been around for years.
It’s been prevalent as long as I’ve been doing this. So many, many, many years (the extra ‘many’ accurately represents all the grey hair I have).
For certain suburbs, the winter months are actually the busiest with the highest volume of sales. For those who are thinking about selling, let’s have a look at some of the myths & rumours about this “horrible time of the year to sell”.
Debunking The Winter Selling Myth
The myth that winter is a bad time to sell still to this day puts sellers off listing their property in the middle of the year.
Part of the reason is that agents have been known to hammer the message of ‘the SPRING selling season’.
And subconsciously, if SPRING = good, then WINTER = bad.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, but don’t tell anyone….
The SPRING SELLING SEASON is just a marketing gimmick that agents use.
Shock. Outrage. I can hear the gasps from here – real estate agents, not being honest?
Who would have ever thought?
And I’ll get this out of the way now…
Yes, you’ll be getting some spring selling season stuff from me in a couple of months time.
So yes, I’m definitely guilty. But at least I’m being honest about being guilty – does that make it better?
Genuine Buyers vs Lookers
It is true that overall buyer numbers do decline in the cooler months.
But here’s a question to ponder… do buyer numbers drop, or do looker numbers drop?
Again, I’ll let you in on the secret… it’s the lookers.
Genuine buyers are present all year round.
Those lookers who enjoy getting a coffee & playing open house on a Saturday morning might not be as prevalent in June as they are in November, but they’re not the ones actually making offers & actually doing the buying.
Lower Supply
One of my favorite concepts to put into a sellers mind – we want to sell in isolation, not competition.
This is another way of looking at the supply & demand concept.
Winter often sees lower stock levels on the market.
So if you want to sell & capture more buyer eyeballs & more attention, then you want to sell when there are fewer competitors (other houses on the market).
Selling when there are fewer options available for buyers will help create an environment & feeling of scarcity. For a seller, this is a key ingredient for a successful sale campaign.
Data, Data, Data
Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good bit of data!
So let’s have a look at some of the local suburbs to illustrate that the busiest months of the year are often the winter months.
The numbers below are an average of the last 3 years.
Glenmore Park
Busiest month = March & July (32 average sales)
Slowest month = April (26 average sales)
Cranebrook
Busiest month = May (22 average sales)
Slowest month = January & April (15 average sales)
Kingswood
Busiest month = June (10.5 average sales)
Slowest month = August (4.5 average sales)
Cambridge Park
Busiest month = July (12.5 average sales)
Slowest month = April (5 average sales)
Jordan Springs
Busiest month = September (22.5 average sales)
Slowest month = December (14.5 average sales)
South Penrith
Busiest month = November (21.5 average sales)
Slowest month = December (8.5 average sales)
Christmas is Just Around The Corner
For those sellers who plan on selling & then buying another property, there is a definite advantage to a winter sale campaign.
Getting the ball rolling in the middle of the year allows ample time to sell the current property, find the new place, allow property settlements to occur, move & get everything settled with enough time to enjoy the Christmas break in your new home.
It is understandable that over the Christmas season when friends & family catch up, showing off the new house is something that everyone will enjoy.
Horses For Courses
There are of course examples of where waiting until the warmer month may be an advantage.
If you’re located in a holiday destination this may be a major factor.
For those properties that have a strong affiliation with summer, it might be wise to wait.
If you’ve just spent $100,000 on a brand new infinity pool then yep, maybe wait for spring or summer. But then why have you just spent $100K on a new pool & now want to sell – sorry, got sidetracked.
In past decades, those properties with beautifully manicured gardens might be another example where waiting until the garden blooms in spring might be a great idea.
However these days, a yard or garden that is time consuming is a turn off for many buyers. This is of course a generation thing. As a general rule, those closer to retirement age will have more of a ‘green thumb’ than others.
So even this particular example may not be as strong of an argument as it was 20 or 30 years ago.
Atmosphere
You’ve all heard friends & family say “we just felt at home” when they’ve just bought a new property.
Ensuring that your buyer has a strong, emotional bond is another crucial element in achieving an outstanding sale result.
A cosy winter time environment can help with this part of the journey.
Selling in certain areas can really harness with winter vibes & be used to create a cosy & warm atmosphere.
Think of somewhere like the Blue Mountains… buyers walking through an open house with the wood fire burning, I mean talk about atmosphere!
It’s About The Humans
This is another one of my favorite sayings. Come to think about it, I’ve only got a few sayings that I say again & again.
Selling isn’t about ‘bricks & mortar’, it’s about the people involved.
The message I want to leave you with is this – sell whenever it suits the people involved. Don’t wait unnecessarily for the ‘spring selling season’ if it doesn’t suit you.
Don’t be scared to sell your house just because the calendar says June or July.
