A new report from RealtyTrac.com uses some big real estate data that may help investors know the best — or worst — times to market their investment property on the retail market. As real estate investors look to take their properties to the retail market after a rehab or fix-and-flip, or for other reasons, timing can play a critical role in successfully marketing that property through the Multiple Listing Service or other retail websites. While the report is written from the viewpoint of the buyer, it can be helpful information for the real estate investor looking to buy or sell property at the right time for the best price as well. RealtyTrac.com took a big data approach to this question, analyzing 32 million single-family home and condo sales over the past 15 years, according to a news release. They compared average sale prices to average estimated market value at the time of sale to determine whether buyers paid a premium or bought at a discount. Based on the closing date of the sale, they broke down the data by month, weekday and day of the year to identify when buyers historically have realized the biggest discounts. Below are high-level details. The best month to close on the purchase of a home is October Out of 2.7 million single-family home and condo sales over the last 15 years that closed in October, buyers realized an average discount of 2.6 percent below full estimated market value at the time of sale. Following October as best months to buy were February, July, December and January — all fall or winter months except for July, which was a surprise, given that conventional wisdom would suggest that is a good time to sell but not necessarily to buy to buy at a bargain price. The worst month of the year to close on the purchase of a home is April, when buyers over the last 15 years have purchased at an average premium of 1.2 percent above estimated market value at the time of sale. The best weekday to close on the purchase of a home is Monday Out of 5.5 million single-family home and condo sales over the last 15 years that closed on a Monday, buyers realized an average discount of 2.3 percent below full estimated market value at the time of sale. Friday is the second-best weekday to close on a home purchase. Buyers who closed on Friday realized an average discount of 2.0 percent. Thursday is the worst day of the week to buy a home, with a 1.0 percent average discount, followed by Wednesday with a 1.4 percent average discount, and Tuesday, with a 1.9 percent average discount. The best day of the year to close on the purchase of a home is Oct. 8 After removing perennial holidays such as Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Veteran’s Day and July 4, RealtyTrac’s analysis found that over the past 15 years buyers who closed on the purchase of a home on Oct. 8 have realized the biggest average discount — 10.8 percent below estimated market value at time of sale — among any of the remaining 356 days in the year. After Oct. 8, the best days of the year to close on a purchase of a home were: Nov. 26 (10.1 percent discount) Dec. 31 (9.7 percent discount) Oct. 22 (9.6 percent discount) Oct. 15 (9.1 percent discount) The worst day of the year to close on a purchase of a home was Jan. 19, when buyers paid an average 9.6 percent premium above estimated market value at time of sale, followed by Feb. 16 (9.5 percent premium), April 20 (9.5 percent premium), April 6 (8.4 percent premium), and April 27 (8.2 percent premium). Here is a look at what some Realtors around the country say about timing “The start of the school year and the holidays influence our buyer decisions and serve as a strategic indicator of the most advantageous times for buyers to land their lowest-priced deal. Due to less buyer competition, October and November typically provide a dip in the SoCal real estate activity cycle,” Mark Hughes, chief operating officer with First Team Real Estate in Southern California, said in the release. In Ohio, Michael Mahon, president at HER Realtors, said in the release, “The time to purchase or sell is before the end of the year, in order to take advantage of current market conditions in Ohio. With interest rates likely to rise in 2016, potentially lessening the purchase power of consumers, buyers are finding the ability to purchase more home for their money in today’s housing market. Sellers are equally benefiting in the current market, with inventory in the area down 20 percent from last year, contributing to greater demand and higher equity return.” In Denver, “Our market will soften up a little due to typical seasonality. Many buyers who may have spent the past six months competing and coming up short may be rewarded in the fall and winter months as more inventory should provide them with more choices and hopefully less competition,” Anthony Rael, Realtor at RE/MAX Alliance in Denver, said in the release. “Unfortunately, the degree to which it will open up is dependent upon the market price point. Below $350,000 will remain very competitive and in many cases continue selling above list price, but the real opportunities seem to be in the middle of the market in the $400,000 to $600,000 range.” In Florida, “The end of the school year and summer break accelerates our South Florida closings in the spring and summer months,” Mike Pappas, CEO and president of the Keyes Company in South Florida, said in the release. “Historically, we close 60 percent of our sales in the second and third quarter of each year. Traffic is lower during the holidays and therefore January and February are our lowest closing months.” In Seattle, “As we enter the rainy winter months in Seattle, things usually start to slow down. But it’s not […]
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