The Best Times of the Year to Buy and Sell an East Coast Home

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While we know the best times of year to sell a home for most of the West Coast we decided to reach out to a real estate expert on the East Coast to share his thoughts on the home selling seasons. We chose Bill Gassett a well-regarded blogger and top real estate agent in Holliston Massachusetts to share his thoughts with our readers. Holliston is located about 25 miles West of Boston so it gives us the perfect flavor of the Northeast region of the country. From the East Coast to the West Coast there can certainly be differences in the way real estate sales are conducted. We asked Bill to break it down for us in his area.

Without a doubt in Massachusetts the spring is the best time of year to sell a home. In fact it is by a wide margin. More sales take place during the spring selling season that at any other point in time. When the spring market kicks in here is really dependent on the weather. For example when we have a mild winter it is not unusual for the market to start picking up to around the middle to the end of February. If however we get bombarded with snow it can easily push the pickup in market activity out to March. Our New England weather is very tricky. It is not uncommon for one year to have a mild winter and the next to be buried in two feet of snow. It is understandable that most buyers don’t want to be out looking at homes when they have to deal with the cold harsh realities of the winter!

Closing Deals on Home Sales

Historically for us April to June will be the busiest in term of not only showings on properties but actual closings as well. Once we get past the end of June and into July there is a noticeable slowdown in activity. In fact every 4th of July you can just feel the market change. This isn’t to say that the Summer time is dead, in fact far from it. The market could best be described during this time as slower but steady. The weather is still good and the exteriors of most homes have planting in bloom that enhances the overall curb appeal. What we battle as many markets do is a lot of people who go on vacation during the summer months. This is a time however that the buyers in the market tend to be super serious about buying a home. A good percentage of these buyers have kids and are looking to get their families settled into a new school system. Because of this locating a destination town and ultimately a home becomes an important goal.

Fall Home Sales on the East Coast

The fall home selling season here tends to be up and down. There are some years where we see a very large pick-up in activity and others where it remains fairly quiet. Homes at this time of year tend to look great because the seasonal changes tend to bring vibrant colors to our leaves and foliage before the winter hits. There will actually be people that will come and visit our area at this time of year just to see the changing of the leaves. The fall is like the last hurrah before winter hits.

Hard Times with Winter Home Sales

Without a doubt there are far fewer homes sold in the winter here that at any other time of the year. The drop off in sales is fairly substantial. When November rolls around the market activity drops substantially. This is mostly due to the fact that the weather can really start to get brutal. A second factor is the holidays. Who wants to be out looking at homes when they have to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas at the same time – the answer is not many. Once we get past the holidays and into January the market slowly starts to pick up. As you can see this is probably not all that different than buying and selling on the West Coast but maybe for slightly different reasons.