sMith Busters: January is the best time to list your home in Sarasota Florida.
As I was writing my last sMith Busters blog that addressed the question of agents asking higher prices in season, I realized that I would need to address this topic as well, but in a separate blog.
DISCLAIMER: Properties sell all year long. Although this blog will show which month has the best history for sales in Sarasota County, your personal timeline and goals should be considered first when deciding to list your home for sale. Make your listing stand out above the competition and you can have a great sales experience during any month of the year.
WARNING: If numbers and stats make your eyes glaze over – just skip to the end.
Now without further ado…
The facts to support today’s sMith Busters question seem quite obvious to those who make the statement “January is the best time to list your home”. After all, half of the northern population pours into Florida every January.
But what if…
What if the masses are wrong? What if the huge influx of people is not resulting in a better sales environment for homeowners? What if it is actually having the opposite effect on sellers?
Would anyone even believe it? After all, it would seem impossible that more people would mean less sales. However, what if all the new listings are just flooding the market and making it harder for everyone?
There’s only one way to find out the truth. #Numbers. We have to look at the actual number of sales versus the number of active listings.
FINAL WARNING: If numbers and stats make your eyes glaze over – skip to the end immediately.
For the purpose of this blog I’ve ran two vital reports. Both are for the past 12 months in Sarasota County only. However, I find the stats similar for Manatee and Charlotte as well.
The first report shows us the single-family home active listings per month and the number of accepted offers on those listings. ( view the report )
On average, 25% of all active listings received an acceptable offer. Another way to view it is that 75% of all listings each month did not receive an acceptable offer. Now this being a 12-month average, the next question should be “which months produced the highest number of acceptable offers?”.
The top two months for listings were January and February.
Jan 2019 = 4168 listings 848 offers 20% received acceptable offers
Feb 2019 = 4207 listings 921 offers 22% received acceptable offers
The bottom two months for listings were August and September.
Aug 2019 = 2741 867 offers 32% received acceptable offers
Sept 2019 = 2735 731 offers 27% received acceptable offers
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The numbers for condo are even lower ( view the report )
12-month average equals 17% acceptable offers
Jan 2019 = 1481 listings 243 offers. 16% received acceptable offers
Feb 2019 = 1532 listings 243 offers. 16% received acceptable offers
Aug 2019 = 1063 203 offers 19% received acceptable offers
Sept 2019 = 1071 167 offers 16% received acceptable offers
Myth BUSTED!!
According to these facts, Sarasota County sellers have the best chance of selling their property in August.
On behalf of Steve Martin Homes Group,
-Steve
Steve Martin Smith is a top Sarasota County area Real Estate Agent licensed in the state of Florida since January of 2015. With an impressive launch, he attained the number two ranking in his first brokerage of 20 agents by the end of 2016. That caused other brokerages to aggressively attempt to recruit him and eventually he accepted an offer with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in March of 2017. Since that time Steve Martin has reached many personal heights. Selling $1,000,000+ estates from Panther Ridge in Manatee County to condos in Punta Gorda, Steve has managed to become one of the top selling agents of single family homes in our local Sarasota County market. The growth and success that Steve Martin Homes Group has attained in 2019 paved the way to accept an offer with RE/MAX Platinum Realty. This move to better serve their customers, with offices across Sarasota County, Manatee County and the largest global presence of any real estate brand, is certain to build on a history of pleasing buyers and sellers who choose to trust Steve Martin Homes Group with all of their residential real estate needs.