Should You List In December?
November 30
Written by Brian Madigan LL.B
propertywire.ca
Should you list in December? This is an interesting question. The statistics will demonstrate that historically, December is not a good month for real estate sales.
However, the buyers and sellers who are around in December are serious and want to do business.
Let’s have a look at the sales figures for the Greater Toronto area in December over the last few years:
2004……4,232
2005……4,255
2006……4,447
2007……4,647
2008……2,577
2009……5,541
So, all in all, the activity seemed to produce about 1,000 transactions per week.
Certainly, 2008 was an aberration. This was mere weeks after the world financial crisis before any resolution was in hand.
The percentage of sales that took place in December related to the entire year are as follows:
2004……5.07%
2005……5.06%
2006……5.35%
2007……5.58%
2008……3.37%
2009……6.21%
The bottom line, of course, is that there is still activity and there are still sales.
What about January? Is that a better month? Let’s have a look at the average sales prices. Did they increase in January, compared to the previous December?
2005……up
2006……up
2007……up
2008……down
2009……down
2010……down
The conclusion is not evident at all. In the last three years, it was possibly worth waiting, although in the three years prior to that, there were slight measurable increases in January.
To some extent, there is a missing month, somewhere in December and January. It can be based up the holiday schedule as well. It is challenging to complete transactions in the last two weeks of December or the first two weeks of January. That seems to reoccur every year.
On the other hand, there are many of motivated sellers who would like to complete their sale before the end of the year and a number of anxious buyers (usually in the commercial field) who would like to buy before year end.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker is an author and commentator on real estate matters, if you are interested in residential or commercial properties in Mississauga, Toronto or the GTA, you may contact him through Royal LePage Innovators Realty, Brokerage 905-796-8888
www.OntarioRealEstateSource.com
Should you list in December? This is an interesting question. The statistics will demonstrate that historically, December is not a good month for real estate sales.However, the buyers and sellers who are around in December are serious and want to do business.
Let’s have a look at the sales figures for the Greater Toronto area in December over the last few years:
2004……4,232
2005……4,255
2006……4,447
2007……4,647
2008……2,577
2009……5,541
So, all in all, the activity seemed to produce about 1,000 transactions per week.
Certainly, 2008 was an aberration. This was mere weeks after the world financial crisis before any resolution was in hand.
The percentage of sales that took place in December related to the entire year are as follows:
2004……5.07%
2005……5.06%
2006……5.35%
2007……5.58%
2008……3.37%
2009……6.21%
The bottom line, of course, is that there is still activity and there are still sales.
What about January? Is that a better month? Let’s have a look at the average sales prices. Did they increase in January, compared to the previous December?
2005……up
2006……up
2007……up
2008……down
2009……down
2010……down
The conclusion is not evident at all. In the last three years, it was possibly worth waiting, although in the three years prior to that, there were slight measurable increases in January.
To some extent, there is a missing month, somewhere in December and January. It can be based up the holiday schedule as well. It is challenging to complete transactions in the last two weeks of December or the first two weeks of January. That seems to reoccur every year.
On the other hand, there are many of motivated sellers who would like to complete their sale before the end of the year and a number of anxious buyers (usually in the commercial field) who would like to buy before year end.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker is an author and commentator on real estate matters, if you are interested in residential or commercial properties in Mississauga, Toronto or the GTA, you may contact him through Royal LePage Innovators Realty, Brokerage 905-796-8888 www.OntarioRealEstateSource.com
The Schacter Team - Langley Real Estate