Christmas is but a few weeks away, and so begins the annual home-moving hiatus…or does it?
It’s among the property market’s greatest misconceptions - the belief that the number of people buying and selling properties hits a cliff edge on December 1st.
In reality, the property market is surprisingly active at this time of year, and especially on Boxing Day, when statistics show, year on year, a substantial spike in traffic on the portals.
This trend is mainly owing to the increase in free time that prospective buyers have over this period, and the attitude of forward-thinking that proceeds the often all-consuming build up to Christmas Day.
Given this uptick in time and motivation, ‘Twixmas’ cultivates a captive audience of potential buyers, which goes some way to explaining Rightmove's findings that the 'viewing-to-sale ratio’ is generally higher now, than at any other time of year.
These findings should also be weighed against the typically lower levels of stock that exist at this time of year, off the back of which, sellers can often expect to yield a slighter better selling price than in the choice-heavy spring market, for example.
Summary
While it is tempting to view January as the official start of the next selling season, and write off the remainder of 2023, those with their sights set on a near-future move should keep in mind the busy online searching period that begins on Boxing Day.
To tap into this window of opportunity, sellers will need to have their properties ‘market-ready’ (with a floor plan, images and EPC in place), with a view to going live on all the major portals on Boxing Day.
When using this approach, many agents would employ a ‘do not disturb’ caveat, whereby viewing requests will be paused until January.
This ‘best of both worlds’ approach allows maximum interest to be captured, without imposing on the precious down-time that the festive season represents.
Come January, once the decorations are packed away and a tone for new beginnings has been set, those who've taken the head-start on their home sale, might even find the season's worst stumbling-blocks work in their favour.
For example, far from the cold, grey days of this first month of the year being a deterrent, it can actually bring a home’s warm cosiness into sharper focus, creating an entirely unique set of incentives to the decision-making process.
For more details and information on our valuation process, please contact Braxton on 01628 674234 or email property@braxtons.co.uk