March is the best month to sell property, according to research from the UK’s largest property site, Rightmove.
The research, which looked at data from the past five years excluding 2020, found that March typically has the highest number of buyer inquiries per property for sale, meaning this is when competition for homes tends to be strongest.
Homes are currently selling in an average of 39 days, compared with an average of 59 days over the past five years.
March is also the month when the most sellers put their homes on the market, Rightmove said.
Luckily for those who may not be able to get their property ready to sell in time to take advantage of this demand Rightmove said April is the next strongest month to sell, based on competition between buyers for each available property, followed by May.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “For those considering selling this year, March has historically been the best time to come to market on average.
“For any sellers who might be conscious of coming to market at a time when the number of new listings has traditionally been high, the data shows us that the level of demand in March means sellers are likely to met with multiple potential buyers competing for their home.”
Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, said there were numerous reasons behind these findings.
He said: “With the sun shining and Easter coming up, March is always an appealing time for buyers to view homes and therefore usually the busiest in terms of instructions.
“It’s also the ideal time for buyers to try and close transactions, with families wanting to be in their new home before the start of the school year in September, also giving them time for any works to be carried out.
“With the possibility of further interest rate rises in March, the second quarter of the year might be even busier than the first as more buyers fight for every house in order to make the most of ultra low rates, although even a further slight increase won’t result in any major hike in mortgage pricing overnight.
“Space remains key on buyers’ wishlists and gardens are at a premium as even those without children look for outside space in which to relax while taking a break from home working.”
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, added: “What’s interesting about these figures for me is not so much the usual asking prices or sales values – the increase in listings confirms what we’ve been seeing at the sharp end for the past few weeks.
“Perhaps a little surprisingly, rising inflation and interest rates are helping persuade some homeowners who thought that prices would keep rising almost indefinitely to take advantage of continuing strong demand and relatively low mortgage costs as well as last year’s hike in values.
“However, increasingly stretched affordability and more supply will keep prices in check for the beginning of 2022 at least and below last year’s dizzy growth rates.”
