For everyone, springtime is the period when the winter's coolness leaves in favour of the sunny days. This also applies to the real estate market. It has been proven that spring is the best time of year if you want to sell your property.
The figures are here to prove it, and all estate agencies make the same conclusion: most of the transactions take place during the spring months. The winter months are usually quiet, and the springtime is boosting the property market. Summer is the opposite and a relatively sluggish moment, when the French do not really think about business. Moreover, autumn is definitely not the ideal time of year for those who want to sell their property. Several important expenses are planned during this period (schools, taxes, etc).
The calendar of family investors is punctuated by the deadlines of the school year. For the families planning to move from a city to another, moving during spring will always be preferred to be ready for the next autumn season. Buyers will prefer to handle all the steps of the move (finalisation of the transaction, eventual works completion, the move in itself, etc) and keep the summer free to properly settle their families. From this point of view, closing the transaction before the end of June is, therefore, a top priority. Moreover, July and August are traditionally holiday months with reduced economic activity - including among artisans.
The cyclical increase in real estate demand in the spring is a general fact, however you can also see a sales spike during various other months, depending mainly on external economic factors that influence the behaviour of the buyers. This was the case, for instance, when amendments to the Pinel Act were announced in January 2018. In the lasts months of 2017, a sharp rise in transactions was observed before the amendment, due to the effect of buyers willing to complete their purchase to take advantage of this law in its original version. The seasonality of the market is a crucial factor to take into account if you want to sell your property under the best conditions.
Selling during springtime is, therefore, the best guarantee for a seller to put the balance of power in his or her favour, and achieve the most optimal terms. Nevertheless, real estate cycles sometimes experience upheavals due to the effect of external factors, which should not be ignored. The important thing is to stay informed about evolutions of the local real estate market, and leave as little as possible to chance.
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