Date Published 01 December 2023
As with most things in life, the property market changes throughout the year. With Christmas just around the corner many people start to wind down a little as the joint pressures and pleasures of the festive season take hold.
So it's reasonable to assume that estate agents start to take things easy too, although in fact nothing could be farther from the truth.
Having over a quarter of a century of experience we know that the changing tides of the industry are predictable to some degree. When it comes to the winter market for property there are some things that both sellers and buyers really should know.
One of the myths needing to be addressed is that it's best to wait until the New Year to start getting things moving.
The Christmas effect
The winter property market is effectively split in two by Christmas. It's quite true that most people probably won't want to be going on viewings the closer we get to the day itself, and likewise many sellers don't really expect to be entertaining potential buyers, no matter how attractive their decorations might be!
So the period leading up to Christmas does see some slowdown in activity on the face of things. However, behind the scenes we are actually in one of our busiest periods of the year.
This is because the festive lull soon turns into high levels of buyer activity on Boxing Day.
December 26th
We mix tried and tested traditional estate agency methods with up to the minute marketing tools and of course today this means making the most of the major online portals.
Rightmove is the biggest UK property website and for the past few years it has been reporting on what it calls the Boxing Day Bounce. For the past few years the company has seen more and more people browsing properties on their site during the post-Christmas Day festive period.
In 2021 visits to the website were 54% higher than the year before. Last year Rightmove said the number of new properties put up for sale on December 26 was the highest it has ever recorded for any Boxing Day. On top of that the 2022 year-end Boxing Day bounce also saw more than 51 million visits to Rightmove between then and the first working day of the New Year.
Get moving!
What this all means for sellers is quite obvious - if you wait until after Christmas to talk to an estate agent you could be making a big mistake.
The post-Christmas period is a valuable time if you want to make sure your home is going to be seen by the maximum number of potential buyers. You can really benefit by talking to us now because if you really want to sell we can put everything in place so that you are ahead of the pack.
A full marketing plan can be in place for Boxing Day, including professional photos, accurate floor plans, brochures, and much more, all ready to push the button to go live on the market at exactly the right time.
What's more, if you instruct us to sell your property this December we'll give you an M&S gift card worth £100!*
There are advantages for buyers too - by registering with us now it means we can also help you get ahead. We'll give you priority notice of properties even before they go live on the main online portals so you can be first in line to view.
Christmas cheer
Waiting to put plans in motion, whether buying or selling, is a natural feeling at this time of year but hopefully you'll now realise that it is far better to talk to us right now and make the most of the unique post-Christmas market conditions.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Remember, we can help your property plans get off to a great start in 2024!
*Terms and conditions apply – contact us for details
