What's The Worst Time to be on the Market in the Seattle Area?

Weekly List of King County Homes for Sale in 2010

It’s July!  Why July? Because that’s the time of year when the largest number of homes and condos are on the market.

Are you surprised? So many times I hear from people they’re waiting until the summer to sell, when school is out.  But it’s not the best time.  If you look at the chart above, the peak of the competition, when the most number of homes and condos were on the market, was at the end of July.  At that time 14,639 homes were on the market.

This year starts out with 10,008 properties on the market, which, if we follow typical yearly patterns, means the first of the year is one of the best times to sell a home. There’s so much less competition.  In fact, there are 32% less homes on the market now when compared to July of last year.

Was 2010 unique? No, this is the typical pattern we see every year, no matter the type of real estate market. For example, here’s how the peak of 2009 looked:

7-27-09   13,861

The peak of the homes for sale in the Seattle area real estate market was the exact same week in 2009 and 2010.

So, if you’d like to make a move this year, please don’t wait until the summer.  That’s when everyone else is going to put their homes on the market.

As soon as the statistics are available for the time of the year when the most homes sold, I’ll share that, too.

If you are thinking of selling your home, feel free to contact me to talk about how to position your home to get the best possible price given current market conditions.  But contact me sooner, rather than later this year!  Have a great 2011.