The Best Time to Put Your Home on the Market, in Every Metro Area

Watching your house sit while it’s on the market can be a real drag. So maybe you’ve been hesitant to list yours. Well, now might be the time if you live in the New York metro area, Chicago, Dallas, Jacksonville, or another major city. The first week of April is a real estate market sweet spot where high buyer demand, low competition, speedy sales, and strong prices come together to give sellers who list a major wallet win.

Don’t believe it? We’ll show you the numbers. Homes listed in this first sweet week of April sell six days faster on average than similar homes listed at other times, according to data from Realtor.com’s “Best Time to List Report.”

This time of year, people are looking to snag a new home. Listings made the first week of April tend to get 14 percent more views. Why? Other folks dragging their feet about listing their places haven’t quite gotten around to putting theirs on the market. So, around this time each year, there’s about 5 percent less competition. Fewer homes on the market mean yours has even more of a chance to stand out.

Need another reason to list your home? If you list it now, you’ll get more money. Homes listed now sell for 6 percent higher, on average, than similar homes listed later in the year. Even though 6 percent doesn’t sound like a big deal, that tiny percentage often equals five figures in your price: Houses listed now are priced $17,000 more, on average, and they’re also less likely to have a price drop than houses listed at other times.

For some other cities, however, the listing sweet spot is a little different. If you live in the Los Angeles area, for example, wait a couple of weeks for maximum ROI.

Vacation spots, on the other hand, have their sweet listing spot at a completely different time of the year. If you’re selling a home in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, hold off until August.

Week of March 31

Week of April 14

Week of March 31

Week of March 31

Week of March 24

Week of March 31

Week of March 24

Week of August 4

Week of April 7

Week of April 14

Week of March 24

Week of April 21

Week of June 9

Week of April 7

Week of March 24

Week of June 2

Week of June 9

Week of February 24

Week of March 31

Week of March 10

Week of March 24

Week of April 14

Week of April 14

Week of April 7

Week of April 14

Week of April 14

Week of March 24

Week of March 31

Week of April 7

Week of April 7

Week of May 5

Week of April 21

Week of June 2

Week of March 31

Week of May 5

Week of March 24

Week of March 24

Week of March 31

Week of April 14

Week of March 31

Week of April 28

Week of April 14

Week of June 2

Week of June 9

Week of April 7

Week of March 31

Week of April 21

Week of March 31

Week of March 24

Week of April 7

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