Choosing the right time to list your home for sale is one of the many variables in the real-estate game. Harvey Grennan makes some seasonal adjustments to popular beliefs.

With flowers blooming and birds singing, spring is the time to do up your home, sell quickly and get the best price. At least, that's the conventional wisdom. Along with this we assume agents are run off their feet listing properties for the spring auction season. And in the run-up to Christmas, some buyers will get desperate and grab whatever they can get.

In reality, however, more homes are sold in autumn than in spring and the lowest number of sales is in summer, largely because the real estate industry is dormant in December and January.

The real surprise is how strong the market is in winter. Sales in winter months are only a whisker behind those in spring and way ahead of the summer total. And despite the belief that spring is the time to sell, more people put their homes on the market in autumn or winter.

If there's a peak time for selling, it's March, which accounts for 9.4 per cent of all sales, followed by May, on the cusp of winter, at nine per cent of sales. Actually, there's not much variation between months, except for the slack six-week period from mid-December.

Property analysts RP Data conducted a study of seasonal sales patterns for H&G (see below). With homes taking an average of more than 50 days to sell, the company says, any upswing in sales (when buyer and seller exchange contracts) would be preceded by an increase in listings (when the agent signs up the vendor) one to two months earlier. Since March is peak selling month, this suggests January or February is the best time to put property on the market. But you may struggle to find an agent in January. In fact, more people list their homes in May and July.

As for sales, Tim Lawless, Director of Research at RP Data, says May is the busiest month in Sydney and Melbourne. March is the busiest time for sales in all other capital cities except for Adelaide and Darwin. In Adelaide, June has proven to be the busiest month for sales.

The figures suggest it doesn't make that much difference when you go to market, except for the period leading up to December and January. Conversely, that dormant period may be the time for buyers to pounce.

"If you're looking for the best deal, it may be wise to look around Christmas/New Year,” says Lawless. “Despite the fact that there are fewer properties for sale, there's also a much lower level of competition for housing stock and you may be able to get a better price."

Cool moves

Sell in the cooler months: that's the advice from Shannan Whitney, Director of Sydney real-estate agency BresicWhitney. "The lead-up to Christmas is traditionally difficult due to the heat and the disruption December can bring. It's easier to lose a buyer's interest,” he says. “The cooler months are a better time to sell because there is less competition."

Australian home sales and listings by season, 2006-2011

Spring sales: 26.2%; listings: 25.1%
Summer sales: 21.6%; listings: 23.9%
Autumn sales: 26.5%; listings: 26.1%
Winter sales: 25.7%; listings: 26.1%

Source: RP Data

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