Summer Magic Started in April for Home Sellers

By Gino Blefari, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

When is the best time of year to list a house for sale?

It's a question asked as often as when is best to buy.

Historically, summer has been the fastest season for home sellers. That was also the case in 2013, as many sellers across the country experienced higher sale prices and shorter time on market.

Now that summer is coming to a close, we can look back on the season and make some observations – perhaps even pinpoint at which point of the summer is most optimal to hang the for-sale sign. Data released last week from realtor.com found that homes that were listed in April benefitted most with shorter days on market and higher sale prices.

The reason April was pinpointed as the sweet spot is because as summer progressed, more sellers put their homes on the market, spiking inventory a bit and slowing down the market slightly. It's a simple matter of supply and demand.

To illustrate where this happened, realtor.com compiled a list of the top 10 markets where inventory spiked through the summer. Seven of the 10 markets are in California, as follows:

Orange County, where inventory increased 100.3% from April to August 2013; Los Angeles-Long Beach, where it spiked 82.3%; Ventura, where it increased 75.1%; Riverside-San Bernardino, where it was up 70.3%; Oakland, where it increased 62.2%; San Jose, up 47.6%; and Bakersfield, up 38.7%.

The other three top markets for inventory increases were Anchorage, Alaska, where inventory was up 53.3%; Dayton-Springfield, Ohio, up 51.9%; and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., up 44.3%.

Even though inventories climbed and the market and appreciation moved a bit slower in response, it's important to point out that the upward trend continued on all fronts through summer. We're still seeing price increases and low days on market across these cities and plenty of other regions.

It's a great time to be a seller regardless of when you sell. The upward trend has created many happy deals in our markets.