Now, we are going to eliminate some of the factors that can affect home sales like politics, economy and interest rate fluctuations. We are going to focus on the raw data of home sales throughout the 365 days of the year in San Diego.
First, let’s discuss what we mean by best month to sell your home. We are referring to the month where San Diegans’ get the most money for their homes. For years in the real estate business, I’ve heard top real estate agents say spring is the best time to sell. Now in some markets, that is definitely 100% true. But San Diego is a different market. We have good weather throughout most of the year. As I sit and write this article, it is sunny and 70 degrees in the end of November. There are people out in shorts, flip flops and tank tops rolling into December.
Interestingly enough, I have had most my top sales months be November/December. Last year I had 8 escrows going into the New Year. But when top real estate agents were interviewed, the top months for listing your home and getting top dollar were March/April/May and the worst months were November/December. And those polled included top San Diego agents. That contradicted my sales experience and transaction history so I wanted to know the truth. After all, it’s our obligation and duty as real estate professionals to be telling our clients the most accurate information possible to get our clients top dollar for their home sales.
The numbers showed November/December as the 2 best months to get top dollar for your home. I’ve always coached my clients to sell during these months. Why have I done that? It wasn’t rocket science for me to deduct that there were far less homes on the market during the month of November and December than any other time of the year thus less competition and there are ALWAYS home buyers who must buy in November or December whether it be due to a career relocation, they sold their previous home during summer and haven’t found their dream home, retiring couples moving here and needing a home and a host of other reasons. The next best months were February and June.
The reality is that there isn’t a bad time to sell a home in San Diego. Because of our incredibly desirable weather and the fact people our out buying homes when weather is nicer, which is most every day here in San Diego, home sales throughout the year only differ by a few percentage points in home price from month to month. But that being said, November/December are the 2 best months.
As I close up this article, I think about the fact, my clients moving here from Boston that I showed homes to this past weekend, only had 3 homes to visit that fit their buyer parameters. They flew out to see 3 homes. And that was in Carlsbad and Encinitas. Low inventory, strong home prices. Sellers take heed of this valuable knowledge. When you’re looking to get top prices on your home, now you know when to call us up to get your home on the MLS.
