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The single best week to list your home for sale is quickly approaching

Just like some people scan dozens of aggregators to find that elusive bargain plane ticket, others try to crack the code when it comes to listing a home.

Spring has for years been seen as the best season for selling. One Bankrate estimate found that those who list the same home can earn $208,273 in May and just $187,000 in January. Others, in turn, are convinced that listing when others aren’t doing it will get them more buyers and ultimately more money.

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But this year, April is looking increasingly like the best time to sell based on several factors. After crunching the numbers, Realtor.com pins the week of April 16 to 22 as the best time to list nationwide — prices are higher due to increased demand and the market also moves quickly.

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“That’s largely because families want to move when school is out,” Tucson real estate agent Sam Saltzwedel said in a video for Realtor.com. “Interest rates aren’t significantly going down yet. [They] are basically the only factor that stopped houses from continuing to skyrocket.”

When broken down city by city, the “ideal” week can differ — in downtown Los Angeles and Chicago, the best time is actually at the end of March while those who live in the suburbs of Seattle should consider listing the week of April 2 to 9.

The exact date comes down to listing prices, average days on the market and online views per property as well as how many other sellers one will have to compete with — too much of the latter can ultimately undo any benefit one stands to gain from higher demand or prices.

“We expect the 2023 housing market to behave similarly to 2021, 2022 and pre-pandemic years in terms of seasonality,” Realtor.com writes in its “The Best Time To Sell” report.

Nationwide, the April 16 to 22 is expected to have 16.4% more buyers but 9.3% fewer sellers than an average week of the year.

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Average listing prices are also $48,000 higher than homes listed in the early months of the year. Overall, prices are 2.1% higher than the average week of the year. Homes listed during this week also get an average of 32.5% online views and sell 18% than the average week — the number is high but the market speeds up even further in later months.

“While it does not have the highest price or the lowest time on market, this week offers higher than average prices and lower than average time on markets while also offering a higher than average number of buyers,” Realtor.com writes.

Naturally, these dates are only an average — someone may be waiting for higher prices while still others may be looking to sell and move quickly. Market trends have also been heavily influenced by mortgage rates, which rose from 3.2% at the beginning of 2022 to 6.42% at its end — the higher prices pushed many people out of the market but demand is still historically very high.

“People in the real estate business always say that [right now is the best time is the best time to sell] but this time of year it’s especially true,” Saltzwedel said.

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