For years, the conventional wisdom in the residential real estate market was to list your home for sale in the spring. Especially for those that would appeal to families, this season was considered the "right time" to put a home on the market to capture the spring buyers looking to settle into a new house before the start of the next school year. But for a nearly $8,000 boost in your sales price, a new Zillow analysis of the 2024 real estate market reports that the peak period for listing a home was the first two weeks in June, a month after previous years' optimal times.
The main reason for this shift appears to be mortgage interest rates, which declined last year in conjunction with the sales increase. Though the dip wasn't major, going from 6.79% to 6.67%, it was enough to motivate buyers to take the next step and commit to the largest purchase of their lives. Across the country, the increase in sales price when listed in June varied greatly, with San Jose, California, showing an eye-popping $88,400 additional profit for sales during that period and Seattle a distant second at $31,000.
The Federal Reserve will again have a significant impact on the real estate market this year, according to Zillow Chief Economist Skylar Olsen.
"The old logic was that sellers could earn a premium by listing in late spring when their home would be on the top of the pile of listings when search activity was at its peak," she said. "Now, with persistently low inventory, mortgage rate fluctuations make their own seasonality. It is almost certain the Federal Reserve will push back any interest-rate cuts to mid-2024 at the earliest. If mortgage rates follow, that could bring another surge of buyers later this year."
In addition to listing your home later in the spring, Zillow found these factors helpful in attracting buyers:
Make your home internet-friendly: Sellers who used the Listing Showcase tool on Zillow receive 68% more page views, 66% more saves, 63% more shares, and are 15% more likely to go pending in 14 days, compared to similar nearby non-Showcase listings.
Showcase appealing features: Mentioning a steam oven or a pizza oven in a listing description can help a home sell for as much as 5.3% more, while a home with a doorbell camera can make it sell five days sooner.
Make strategic home improvements: Painting the interior is among sellers' most common updates. Take a cue from Zillow's research and look to moody colors rather than the usual white or taupe to attract buyers. If you're upgrading your kitchen cabinets, charcoal gray is the top choice for buyers and can increase the sales price of a home by $2,500 or more.