When Should you List Your Home in 2017?

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Most people know that the Spring and Summer are the best time to list a house. But does this rule of thumb always hold true?

To start, let's look at when listings came on the market in 2016.  The image above shows that most people decided to list their homes in March through July.  We can assume their decision was derived from advise from REALTORs and their already formed understanding of the market.  Does that mean these five months are going to be the best for times to list in 2017?

Overall, the rule of thumb holds true; Spring and Summer are great times to list your house.  That being said, their are certain market conditions that can make Winter or Fall better times to list your house than Spring and Summer.  I would argue that now is one of those times in Harrisonburg and Rockingham county.  Here's why:

There are currently a lot of buyers in the market waiting for new listings to come up.  All the buyers I am working with are both frustrated with the lack of inventory and how quickly houses go under contract.  In general, there are a pool of buyers who have exhausted the Winter's inventory and are eager to pounce on new listings in early Spring.  I would say that this even more true with lower inventory levels and a growing real estate market. 

Another reason an earlier listing could be better is that you will have less competition.  Most people do not impulsively list their home and therefore plan to list their home at the time they believe is best: Spring and Summer.  Again, this will work out fine but there will be more listings to compete with.  

If you would like to get an idea of what your house is worth in the current market, call me at 540-246-9067.  I offer free comparative market analysis reports with no commitments.