HUD Articles

Advantages to Selling Your Home in the Winter

Okay, huddle up, home sellers. Let’s unpack the perks of selling when the air gets chilly.

1. You’ll face less competition.

Come spring, more sellers will flood the market and your home will be just another fish in a great big pond. But in winter, you’ve got a limited number of sellers on the market. For example, the number of active home listings in the U.S. during 2021 and 2022 dipped during the winter and didn’t begin rebounding until the spring of the following year.2

If that pattern repeats in 2023–2024, you’ll have less competition on the market if you list your home during the winter! Buyers have fewer homes to choose from, which means you could sell your house faster.

2. Buyers often mean business.

Most folks want to curl up under a blanket next to a warm fire on a cold winter day. If a buyer is trudging around in freezing weather or breaking away from their holiday schedule to look at your home, they must be serious. That’s because many winter buyers are working against a deadline, whether it’s an expiring lease, relocation or a contract on their current home. They may also be trying to snag some tax breaks before the end of the year.

3. People have time off during the holidays.

You may think people are less likely to see your home in the midst of their hectic holiday schedules. That can definitely be true. But keep in mind, many people also have more time off around the holidays. That means more time for browsing their favorite home apps, dreaming about their future decor, and even scheduling home showings