Home Sellers' 'Magic Window'

New research shows that the first two weeks of May is the best time for sellers to list their homes for sale. Homes sold during that period have brought sellers more money and have sold faster than the average listing in the year overall.

Zillow's data show that homes sold between May 1 and May 15 typically sell for 0.7 percent more than others, and six days faster. While all real estate is local and conditions may vary, this window of time seems to be best for sellers overall during the peak spring real estate season. Of the 35 markets analyzed, the "magic window" for sellers in 29 of these metros was between the second half of March and first half of June. In the other six metros (Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa, Fla.) the best time to list was the first half of July.

The metro area exhibiting the largest price boost from a particular half-month was Minneapolis-St. Paul, which shares the same early-May window as the nation as a whole. Homes listed during that time-frame in the Twin Cities area sell for about 1.8 percent more ($4,900 on the median local home). San Jose, Calif., and Chicago both also saw their biggest boosts in early May, of about 1.5 percent in each metro area ($18,900 and $3,300, respectively). The sweet spot for listing comes a bit later in Seattle and Columbus, Ohio, where early June listings typically see a 1.5 percent premium ($7,500 and $2,900 respectively).

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