Key Details:
- Based on ATTOM’s annual analysis, the best days of the year to sell a home—judging by data on home sales for the past 12 years–are in the months of April, May, and June, when home sales offer seller premiums of 10% or more over market value.
- The top 16 best days to sell are in the month of May alone.
Based on a recent ATTOM analysis of over 51 million single-family home and condo sales over the past 12 years (2011–2022), the spring and summer months—and especially May, June, and April—are the most active for home buying.
That makes them the best time of the year for sellers to list their homes. And if we’re talking about the best days of the year to sell, 16 of them are in the month of May alone.
So, May really is “the time to make hay,” as Byron Lazine has been saying on the Hot Sheet. After all, if you want to reach your sales goals for the year, you need to have at least 60% pending or settled by June 30th.
In other words, this is not the time to take that vacation. There’ll be time for that in July after you’ve made the most of these three months.
May, June, and April (in that order)
To identify the best months for selling, ATTOM’s analysis used those 12 years of data on home sales to calculate seller premiums for each month. And while April is now behind us, May—the month with 16 of the best home-selling days of the year—is here and waiting for no one.
Here’s how each of the 12 months rank on seller premiums:
- May (12.8%)
- June (10.7%)
- April (10.3%)
- March (9.7%)
- July (9.6%)
- February (8.7%)
- August (8.2%)
- September (8.0%)
- January (7.5%)
- October (6.8%)
- December (6.8%)
- November (6.3%)
If you’re an agent who’s looking for listings, it’s now or never. You’re gonna get people to list their homes in the end of April, in the month of May, and the month of June. And it’s going to be harder in July and early August. And then it’s going to be harder at the beginning of September.
Report methodology
For the numbers in this analysis, ATTOM reviewed any calendar days from 2011 to 2022 with at least 11,000 single family home and condo sales; 362 days matched this criteria. The four exceptions were Jan. 1, July 4, Nov. 11, and Dec. 25.
To calculate the sales premium (or discount) paid on a given day, ATTOM compared the median sale price for homes with closings on that day with the median automated valuation model (AVM) for those same properties at the same time of sale.
Top takeaways for real estate agents
With May and June ranked as the top two months to sell homes, you need to have this data and supporting visuals to show your clients and prospects. Be prepared to counter misleading and confusing headlines, presenting the reality in clear, accessible language.
Be the knowledge broker in your community—the agent who understands your local market better than most and who consistently over-delivers—to help both buyers and sellers in your area make the most of this month and the next.
