This Is the Best Time to Sell Your Home in 2023

Spring has long been known as the busiest time of year for the housing market: Many people choose to move during springtime, and the housing market historically picks up after a slower winter as people list their current homes and start searching for their next one. But for those wanting to make a great sale—getting as much money for their home as possible in the least amount of time—knowing that spring is a good time to list isn’t enough.

Spring is several months long, after all, and in a market where a house can linger on the market just as easily as it sparks a bidding war, savvy sellers will want to do everything possible to give themselves (and their home) an advantage.

A new report from Realtor.com has pinpointed the best time to sell your house even more precisely. According to Realtor.com’s research, listing your home the week of April 16 through April 22, 2023, is the best timing for a successful sale. Realtor.com even predicts that listing your home between April 16 and April 22 could get you $48,000 more for your home than you’d get if you listed it at the start of the year.

Why April 16 through April 22 Is the Best Time to Sell Your Home

So what makes April 16 through April 22 the best time to list your home for sale? That week is the perfect window in which many different market conditions that affect the selling process overlap in ways that benefit sellers. A combination of higher home prices, lower competition, quicker-moving sales, and high buyer demand make this week a sweet spot, if you can time it right.

“Many home shoppers kick off their search in the early spring and they often beat the majority of home sellers to the punch,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, in a statement accompanying the report. “For this reason, sellers who list on the earlier side will get more buyer attention and therefore be more likely to sell quickly and for a higher price.”

Homes listed the week of April 16 have historically had prices 2.1% higher than average, Realtor.com’s data shows. If this year follows seasonal trends, the national median listing price could be $8,400 higher than average weeks, and $48,000 higher than prices at the start of the year.

There’s also less competition from other homes: Typically, there have been 9.3% fewer sellers on the market during this week compared to other weeks, Realtor.com’s data shows. Inventory has been higher as the market has cooled from 2020 and 2021, but it’s still much lower than it was pre-2020, meaning there’s still plenty of opportunity for sellers.

Homes are also expected to sell more quickly between April 16 and April 22. The 2023 housing market may have slowed down, particularly in comparison to the lightning-quick markets of 2020 and 2021, but homes actively for sale the week of April 16 have historically sold 18% faster than homes for sale in other weeks.

In terms of buyer demand, historical trends show that there are as much as 16.4% more views per listing the week of April 16 than the typical week. Because more views can mean more interested buyers (and more offers), taking advantage of these views can be key to a quick sale.

With buyer demand dropping and uncertain financing because of current market conditions, hopeful sellers will want to make the most of any advantage they have to make a quick, profitable sale. Listing during the best time to sell this year, April 16 through April 22, 2023, might just give you the edge you need to get the most amount of money for your home in the least amount of time—the ultimate goal of any smart home seller.

A recent survey from Realtor.com with HarrisX found that it takes the majority of home sellers (60%) as long as three months to get their home ready to list, so if you think you’ll be selling this spring, start preparing as soon as possible so you can try to hit that April 16 through April 22 window. (These spring projects that set you up to sell a home are a good place to start.) Make sure your home looks its best, is well cared-for, and is up-to-date with routine maintenance, Realtor.com’s experts suggest.

“In today’s market, it’s really important to price your home well and make sure that it looks its best in order to get top dollar and find a buyer quickly,” said Hannah Jones, an economic research analyst at Realtor.com, in the report. “There are still buyers in the market, but due to high prices and interest rates, they’re being a bit more picky than they were the past several years.”

And if you miss that prime selling window, don’t stress too much: All of spring is generally a good time to try to sell or buy a home, and home sales occur year-round anyway. Plus, regional differences might mean that the best time to sell a home in your area is different than the national timing calculated by Realtor.com. If rushing to list your home by April 16 means you’ll be overly stressed or your home won’t be in tip-top shape, it’s better to wait until you and your home are ready to list it. First impressions are everything in real estate, after all.

You can read more about the methodology Realtor.com used to determine the best time to list a house for sale, plus more info on what makes it the best time to sell and how to make the most of that selling window, at the Realtor.com website.