00:00 Speaker A
According to realtor.com, this week, April 14th through the 19th is the best time to sell your home in 2025. Here with the details, we’ve got Hannah Jones, realtor.com senior economic research analyst. Hannah, good to have you on the program with us. You released this research in March, which with with everything that’s happened since, is it still true?
00:30 Hannah Jones
Yeah, so this this week does still bring the best combination of housing conditions within the year for sellers. However, of course, recent events have introduced some risk to that that forecast. But nevertheless, this spring is a time when, you know, buyer demand is on the way up, prices tend to be on the way up, but sellers have not quite flooded into the market yet. Um, and so those early sellers stand to see a market ready for, you know, well-priced move-in ready homes.
01:23 Speaker A
And so with that mortgage rates were at 6.6% for the past two weeks, based on realtor.com forecast, is that the best level buyers can hope for this year?
01:44 Hannah Jones
You know, uncertainty is name of the game. Um, you know, we it’s it’s unclear which way mortgage rates are going to go. It looks like they might go a little bit higher in the short run. Um, but generally, you know, working with an expert, working with a realtor, um, and, you know, having an honest conversation about, you know, what price point am I able to afford, given rates, given how how much savings I have and given what’s on the market? Um, that’s the most important thing to be looking out for buyers right now.
02:29 Speaker A
Why why is this the the the, you know, seven day stretch that is the best week to sell your home? And to list your home, put it on the market and hopefully woo some potential buyers out there.
03:03 Hannah Jones
Yes, so we look at a variety of different factors, but it’s really the combination of, you know, prices are, you know, above the the years average, they’re above earlier in the year. Um, buyers are coming back in the market faster than sellers are, generally. Um, and you know, you’re not seeing as many price reductions, um, and you’re not seeing, um, as many, yeah, as many price reductions and you’re and you’re able to continue to get buyer demand, especially, you know, in this market, which is still really challenging for many buyers. Um, buyers are excited to see, you know, move in ready homes. You’ve you’ve done those little updates, you’ve painted, those sorts of things are really going to be what grab buyer attention.
04:04 Speaker A
Okay, so you started to answer the question, but what more should sellers be doing if they want to take advantage of the buyers that are out there, of course, making their list, checking it twice and trying to figure out which house is right.
04:31 Hannah Jones
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, this housing market, like I said, is very challenging. Um, and so sellers should really price competitively. You know, be realistic, price competitively and you will see, um, or you could see that that you get multiple offers, that you get a lot of buyer attention. Um, if you do price at a point that is attractive to buyers, especially, you know, if your home is looking good, it’s showing ready, all of that, those are great ways, um, to entice buyers to look at your home because buyers are feeling really, um, strained in this market.
05:20 Speaker A
Okay. So from the buyers’ perspective, how can they best approach the table here? Is is now a bad time to buy?
05:38 Hannah Jones
It’s not necessarily, you know, there’s no bad time to buy. It really depends on what you need, um, you know, where you are in your life, you know, life does go on, marriage, divorce, kids, those sorts of things. And so I think what buyers can do to really prepare for this market, um, is you know, have have a real conversation with an expert such as a realtor, um, to understand, you know, how much do I have, how much will it take to get what I want where I want, and you know, will I need to make any concessions? Are there any things, you know, maybe looking at a smaller house like Claire’s discussing, or maybe looking in a different neighborhood that’s a little bit lower price, you know, having those honest conversations, and then you know, really getting your ducks in a row because there are some markets where homes are still selling really fast. So that means that, you know, you need to be ready to move, um, once you see what you’re looking for on the market.
06:44 Speaker A
Should you should you be down, should you be discouraged if you don’t sell this week?
06:56 Hannah Jones
Absolutely not, you know, this is the best week to sell, but the next few weeks are nearly as good. The the risk that you run getting deeper into the spring and the summer is that more sellers come onto the market, which means that you’re going to be facing more competition from other sellers. Um, and you’ll see, you know, a higher likelihood of price reductions, you know, a little bit less demand for your property. Um, and so, you know, just getting in on the early side is a great idea, but you also shouldn’t sacrifice, um, you know, those necessary, those necessary things to get your home ready for for sale. So it is a balance, you know, you want to make sure your home is ready for showings, ready to be seen, um, and you know, try and get into the market perhaps before, you know, the chaos of the summer.
07:58 Speaker A
What what do you think the uncertainties are between next year’s big selling season and and this week, this power week that’s playing out that we’ve typically looked to to kind of be the the the major catalyst for the seller’s market within the April 13th through 19th range.
08:33 Hannah Jones
Yeah, you know, there is a lot of uncertainty, um, right now and and buyers are feeling it, sellers are feeling it. It’s a it’s a little bit of a scary time to be making big financial decisions. And so I think that just how, um, how the tariffs play out, how different economic policies play out are going to really impact, you know, seller and buyer sentiment, um, depending on how secure people are feeling in their jobs, how much they feel like they’re able to save or spend on a down payment right now. Um, those are going to be really important factors as we get deeper into the selling season.
09:16 Speaker A
Hannah, thanks so much for breaking this all down for us. Appreciate it.