How long will it take to sell my home? Is there anything I can do to lessen the amount of the time it spends on the market while getting top dollar for it?
In the real estate industry, we use the Average Days on Market to help sellers picture how long their home may be on the market. This metric is reached by averaging out the actual days on market for each listing that sold, starting from when the listing went on the market to the day it went pending.
When we look the Average Day on Market over the last five years it’s interesting to see that in July 2012 homes were spending an average of 85 days on the market compared to 100 days in July 2017. This is a 17.6 percent increase in the amount of time it’s taking to sell a home.
If we compare August 2012 to July 2013 against August 2016 to July 2017 we find that the Average Days on Market in July 2013 was 110 days, but rose to 122 days in 2017. That is an 11 percent increase.
More recently, if we compare the month of July 2016 to that of July 2017 we find that the Average Days on Market was 84 in 2016 and 100 in 2017, which represents a 19 percent increase.
In the last five years we have only had three time periods where the Average Days on Market peaked and we were seeing listings linger on the market:
January 2013 – 158 Average Days on Market
October 2015 – 156 Average Days on Market
January 2017 – 139 Average Days on Market
These three time periods also correspond to some of the higher percentage differences we brought you in previous articles regarding the disparity between listing prices and sale prices. The average difference over the last five years has been 10 percent, but during the three peaks shown above the differences were much larger at 15 percent, 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
There is clearly a correlation between the Average Days on Market and the asking prices of properties listed on the market. This comes as no surprise. The goal of sellers is to achieve a successful sale. The longer the home lingers on the market the more likely the seller is to make a price adjustment in order to garner more interest from buyers.
I always advise my sellers to go on the market with the best possible asking price they can do as it relates to current market values. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and how you price your home in the beginning is paramount in determining how seriously buyers will take your offer to sell. The first few weeks of being on the market are the ones that see the most activity from potential buyers.
Listings that have lower Days on Market give sellers and agents a better idea of how the market reacted to the listing. Remember, your first offer is usually your best one!
Price is not the only thing that can help shorten your days on the market. You may want to consider some of these other actions to help lessen the likelihood of lingering…
● Re-painting the exterior and interior.
● Professionally cleaning the siding and walkways.
● Staging interior – statistics show that staged homes sell faster.
● Staging exterior.
● Clean closets and toys.
● Remove all pet odors.
● Refresh landscaping.
● Remodeling kitchen and bathrooms – if the numbers make sense for you.
● Replace windows with impact glass.
Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression!
Nicolas Boucher brings over 20 years of experience as well as a global and local approach to real estate. Nicholas is aligned with EWM Realty International, a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate and South Florida’s premier brokerage. EWM is a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and Luxury Portfolio International, the world’s largest broker-to-broker network, and is the exclusive affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate in Miami. His achievements in sales rank him among the Chairman’s Club at EWM, one of the company’s most distinguished honors. Nicolas has unparalleled knowledge of the real estate market and offers buyers and sellers meaningful and simple explanations of complex market trends. He specializes in Pinecrest real estate and is well-respected for his on-point pricing strategies; helping his customers approach the market as effectively as possible to minimize market time and maximize the experience.
