When is the best time to sell a house?

What the national data says about timing

Every spring, someone asks me if they should sell "before the market gets busy." Then they wait until the market is busy. The calendar wins every time.

Here is what the numbers actually show. Zillow looked at 2025 home sales and found that homes listed in the last two weeks of May sold for 1.7% more nationwide. On a typical U.S. home, that came to about $6,000. In higher-priced markets, Zillow put the premium at $25,000 to more than $50,000.

Zillow's explanation is simple. Buyer demand tends to peak before Memorial Day, because families want to move and settle in before the school year starts.

Redfin's data points the same way from a different angle. In an April 2026 report, Redfin said May had the lowest share of sellers cutting their price in six of the past 10 years. April had the lowest share in the other three, including 2024 and 2025. December sellers were the most likely to cut.

So spring tends to mean more buyers and fewer price cuts. That is the average. Your house is not the average. Nobody's is. The average house doesn't exist, which is why it never has to sit through a showing.

Why your city may not follow the national calendar

The same Zillow analysis found that the best two weeks to list change a lot by metro. A few examples from its 2025 data:

• San Jose: the first two weeks of February
• Los Angeles and San Francisco: spring
• Austin: late March
• Dallas, Houston and San Antonio: late April
• Baltimore: late June

San Jose peaking in February surprises people. It should not. In a market where buyers have been waiting all winter and there are only a handful of listings, the first good house of the year can feel like the last parking spot at Costco on a Saturday.

The lesson is not "list in February." The lesson is that a national headline tells you what happened across thousands of neighborhoods at once. You live in one of them. I would rather see what sold on your side of town over the last 60 days than read one more article about the country as a whole.

Readiness beats the calendar

A 1.7% average premium is real money, but it is small next to what a house in the wrong condition costs you. A house that hits the market in late May with a leaking skylight and a garage full of the last owner's paint cans is not getting the May premium. It is getting the May buyers walking out the door.

In my experience, buyers react to condition more than to age or timing. A remodeled 1960s ranch listed in March can beat a tired 2005 house listed in the "perfect" week. Get the house right first, then pick the date.

Life matters too. Zillow says it plainly: not every move can be timed perfectly. Jobs, family and other life events often pick the date for you. If you are selling because of a move, a divorce or an estate, the best time is usually the time that solves the problem. You can still price it well in any month.

What you should not do is overprice in the off season and hope spring rescues you. Redfin's data says December sellers cut the most. A stale listing in January does not get younger by April.

How I read the market for one house

When someone asks me when to sell, I don't open a calendar. I open the sales. Facts over feelings.

Here is what I look at for a specific house:

• Recent closed sales of similar homes nearby, and how the price per sale moved over the last few months
• Pending sales, which show where buyers are signing contracts right now
• Active listings, which show what buyers can choose instead of yours
• How fast homes are going under contract and how often sellers are cutting prices
• How close sale prices land to list prices in your segment

I test the most recent window the data can support. If 30 or 45 days of sales are enough to read the trend, that is what I use. A lazy 12-month average can hide a market that turned in the last 90 days. Your buyers are not shopping last year's market, and your pricing shouldn't either.

What to do if you are planning a sale

1. Work backward from your target date. If spring is the goal, repairs, painting and cleanup happen in winter. Contractors are easier to book then, too. A roofer in April is about as easy to find as a parking spot at an open house with free tacos.
2. Look up your metro's pattern, along with the national one. If you are in a market like San Jose, an early-year listing may make more sense than May.
3. Watch your neighborhood for a few weeks. Note new listings, price cuts and how long homes sit before going pending.
4. Gather your upgrade records: roof, windows, kitchen, baths, HVAC, with dates and permits. These help the buyer's appraiser later.
5. Get a pricing opinion based on evidence. A pre-listing appraisal or a market report built on recent sales tells you what the market is paying now, not what the neighbor hopes to get.
6. Price for the market you are in. If you list in a slower month, price for a slower month. Hope is not a pricing strategy, and buyers can smell it from the curb.