In most years Halloween marks the slow down of the real estate market…but not this year! In Northern Virginia we have seen the market continuing to look strong.
Will the great market continue into November and December? The real estate professionals here at Keller Williams Realty Falls Church think the end of the year will finish strong with housing stable. Mortgage Interest Rates are still low and this is a major factor keeping buyer’s monthly payments lower than normal.
As a local real estate professional I’m often asked if selling in the winter is a good idea or should I wait until spring. Historic data would suggest it is never a bad time to list your home as long as you do not have a strict timeline on moving. The market value of homes do not decrease in the winter but the days on market tend to increase in the winter months. The reasons for this are mostly weather, snow, and days getting shorter with earlier sunsets. If you need to sell quickly in the winter, you might be out of luck and forced to lower the price to get buyers to make offer. On the other hand, if you are patient and flexible on your move, a winter sale can be just as good as a mid summer sale.
The Winter Myth:
The myth is, the worst time to list your home is the week before Christmas. This is because you will lose several days of no showings with most people out of town and spending time with family. This is not true with everyone, I’ve seen property sell on Christmas day and even on New Year’s Eve. The other side of the argument is that no other seller is listing their home at this time so you will have dominant market share of all the buyers looking. With the right marketing strategy any house can be sold any day of the year for full market value.
Christmas day it turns out to be a fantastic day to have your home listed. The real estate home searches skyrockets on Christmas day and the day after. Surprisingly, this is when people get new laptops, tablets, and phones. This is when the most amount of people start their search and talk to their family about buying a new home.
To recap, this year is looking great for home sellers and with rates so low still buyers are getting great savings on their mortgage. This year will end with a strong real estate market. It is not so scary going into Halloween this year.
I hope you the best on your home sale.
Need advice or want to know why your home is not selling? Shoot me a quick message and I’d be happy to help.
