Are you looking for a favorable seller’s market in Wisconsin? Generally, the housing market has a better and worse time for putting a new home on the real estate market. For instance, buyers can find a more favorable buyer’s market during the winter months. However, the best season to sell a house is generally in the late spring.
You’ll find more potential buyers in the late spring and early summer months, as most families are seeking to move before the new school year begins. The number of days on the market your Wisconsin home will linger during that time of the year will end up much lower than during the holiday season or once school begins.
Wisconsin home sellers should consider waiting until the spring or early summer before they list a house on the real estate market. Keep reading to learn more details about the best and worst times to sell a house.
Best Season to Sell a House in a Declining House Market
The best time of year for home sales is usually in late spring. Generally, the absolute best month to sell a house is in May. A report from ATTOM Data Solutions found that the spring and summer months bring in the highest sale price for home sales.
Homeowners can expect to obtain their asking price, or even higher, when listing their properties in the spring or early summer. Essentially, you will find more home buyers during these months, especially with the help of a real estate agent. As such, you are more likely to see a bidding war on your property.
Houses sold in May had a higher home value and gained a 12.6 percent seller premium. The report looked at the typical single-family home and condo sales over 10 years.
June and July also provide an ideal time to sell a house with the help of a realtor. A real estate agent will hold open houses and teach you how to improve the curb appeal of your home. Even when facing declining market conditions, home prices will grow in the spring and summer.
If you sell a home in June, you can expect an average seller premium of 10.7 percent. Homes sold in July tend to have an average seller premium of 10 percent.
The months of the year best for putting a home on the local market are ranked below.
- May
- June
- July
- April
You’re likely to see more new listings on the housing market in the warmer months. However, places with more moderate temperatures and climates tend to have less of a marked change between the summer and winter months.
You will see more of a difference between the summer and winter real estate market trends in the northeast and midwest parts of the United States. Generally, you’ll see less competition from buyers when selling a house in the winter.
Worst Season to Sell a House in a Declining House Market
Generally, the worst season to sell a home is in the fall. The drop in seller premiums starts in September when children start a new school year. The premium on average falls to 7.9 percent in September. The worst month to sell a real estate property is October when the seller premium drops to 5.2 percent.
During the winter months, the seller premiums remain relatively low, especially when compared to May. With the majority of families who have children finding homes to move into during the spring and summer, the rest of the year sees a slowdown in home sales.
During the winter, house hunting for buyers becomes easier even in a declining real estate market. With temperatures dropping and the days getting darker sooner, home sellers see fewer buyers showing interest in their properties.
As such, the buyers have more leverage to buy a home at a lower price. In the fall and winter, sellers may not reach their asking price or sell their property quickly.
However, there are ways to sell your property for a decent price in the fall or winter. First, take photographs of the real estate property during the summer and use those when listing your home. You’ll need photos of the exterior before the trees become bare or the lawn turns brown.
You will still need to take care of the landscaping to improve curb appeal. That may be as simple as mowing the lawn and raking the leaves. You should also get home improvements done, especially if your boiler and heating equipment aren’t working well. Make sure that the house is warm and comfy for home showings.
You can sell house as is or fix up potential problems. However, completing certain remodeling projects and repairs will likely increase your home’s value or gain more interest from buyers, even in the winter.
Further, since the days are shorter in the winter, you’ll want to add plenty of light to the house. Add more floor lamps indoors and landscaping lights outdoors. If any lighting fixtures are chipped or broken, you should upgrade those fixtures.
Even though you’ll see fewer buyers in the fall or winter, the ones who do show up tend to have the motivation to buy your property.
You will also need to work harder to market your property in the fall and winter. You may need to reach out to relocation specialists at major companies to seek employees looking to move to your area. You will also need to remain flexible when choosing a closing date and other factors, as buyers tend to have more pull and options in the colder months.
Do Seasons Make That Much of a Difference When Selling a House?
Seasons do make a significant difference when selling your home. If you put your house on the market anytime between March and August, you’re likely to sell your house at 10 percent or more above its market value.
Essentially, there are more buyers than properties available for sale during the spring and summer. As such, that can lead to a bidding war. Also, you’re likely to sell your residence more quickly due to the competition between buyers.
In March 2022, the median home sale price reached $436,700. Yet, that value grew to $454,700 by April 2022. Furthermore, by May 2022, 59.2 percent of houses sold above homeowners’ asking prices. That’s a steep rise from January when only 42.5 percent of homes were sold above the asking price.
By the spring, home sellers are likely to see multiple offers on their properties from motivated buyers. Essentially, the spring and summer seasons do make a difference when selling a property. You’re likely to see more offers and bids on your house above the asking price.
In the spring, you can also sell a house fast in Fox Point or other parts of Wisconsin. For instance, in May 2022, homes remained on the market for less than 20 days on average. Also, in April 2022 and July 2021, homes sold in less than 40 days after being on the market on average.
However, in January 2022, homes sold in more than 50 days. In January 2021, that number was even higher at nearly 70 days. The statistics show that seasons do matter. You can sell a home faster and at a better price in the spring and summer.
Is There a Best Time of the Year to Sell a House?
The absolute best time of the year to sell a house is in May. Generally, houses garner the best prices in May. In May 2022, homes sold quickly as well at less than 20 days on the market. Also, the best day of the week to list a home on the real estate market is Thursday.
Redfin and Zillow both report that buyers and realtors tend to plan their home showings at the end of the week. Therefore, real estate agents will see the latest listings toward the second half of the week. Essentially, you should list your home on real estate websites like Zillow either on Thursday or Friday.
If you list your home on Monday, it will likely sit for a few days and become stale by the weekend. Furthermore, real estate market trends tend to remain localized, which means you should ask your realtor about local home sales trends. That way, you can pick the right time to list your home in your city or town.
Conclusion
Now, you should know that the best season to sell a house is during the late spring. In particular, May seems to have the best median sales price for home sellers.
However, if you need to move quickly for a new job or a family emergency, you might have to sell your home in the winter. In such a situation, you should seek cash home buyers in Wisconsin.
The cash offer on a house process tends to move fast, and you can even sell your residence in its as-is condition. We buy houses Milwaukee residents love, so give us a call today!
