The best time to sell a house in NSW, season by season

The best time is when your home and your plans are ready

Spring is the traditional selling season across NSW, and for good reason: gardens look their best and more buyers are out looking. But more homes are listed then too, so you compete for attention. A well-prepared home can sell well in any season, and the right time for you depends as much on your plans, your home and what else is for sale nearby as on the calendar.

This is how each season tends to play out in NSW, with the Blue Mountains as a worked example of how local conditions change the picture, and how to decide.

Spring: the busiest season

From September to November more buyers come out across the state, and gardens are at their best. In the Blue Mountains, for example, gardens flower, the Leura Gardens Festival and the Blackheath Rhododendron Festival bring visitors up the hill, and more buyers turn up to open homes. Homes with established gardens, from Leura to Blackheath, show at their best.

The catch: plenty of other sellers have the same idea. More listings mean buyers have more choice, so your home needs to be well presented and sensibly priced to stand out.

Summer: steady, with a holiday lull

Early summer can be strong, with buyers keen to settle before Christmas. From mid-December to late January many buyers and agents take a break, and activity usually drops. In coastal towns, holiday visitors sometimes turn into buyers. Summer is also bushfire season, and buyers on bushfire-prone land will look closely at how well the property is maintained. Clear gutters and tidy vegetation help.

Autumn: a good second season

From March to May the weather is mild, autumn colour arrives in the mountains and on the tablelands, and buyers who missed out in spring are still looking. There is often less competition than in spring, which can work in your favour.

Winter: quieter, and sometimes smarter

June to August is the coldest and quietest time, especially in the high country: the upper Blue Mountains, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange and the New England. In milder coastal areas winter makes less difference. Fewer homes are listed, so the buyers who are looking have less to choose from and are often serious. The risk is presentation: a cold, dark home inspects badly. If you sell in winter, make sure the heating is on well before inspections, open every curtain and book inspection times in the brightest part of the day.

What is the hardest month to sell?

Across Australia, the Christmas and New Year period is usually the slowest, because many buyers are away and attention is elsewhere. In the colder parts of NSW, mid-winter can also be slow for homes that are hard to heat. Neither means a home cannot sell then. It means fewer buyers are looking, so a realistic price and good presentation matter more.

Things that matter more than the season

• Your own timing. If you are buying as well, deciding whether to sell first or buy first has a bigger effect on your stress and your finances than the month you list.
• What else is for sale. Three similar homes listed in your street at once can matter more than the season. A local agent can tell you what is coming up.
• How ready your home is. Listing a well-prepared home in a quieter month often beats rushing an unprepared one into spring. See what adds value before you sell.
• The paperwork. In NSW your contract for sale must be ready before marketing starts. Pool certificates and approvals for past work can take weeks, so start early.
• Interest rates and confidence. Rate changes and wider market mood shift buyer demand more than the weather does, and they are hard to time.

How long it takes from listing to moving out

Plan for more than the campaign itself. A typical sale runs through four stages:

1. Preparation: repairs, cleaning, photos and getting the contract for sale ready. Allow a few weeks, more if a pool certificate or approvals are needed.
2. The campaign: from going live to an agreed sale. This varies a lot with the home, the price and the market, so ask a local agent how long similar homes are taking.
3. Exchange: contracts are signed and the buyer pays the deposit. Residential buyers in NSW usually have a cooling-off period after exchange, unless the property sells at auction.
4. Settlement: the standard NSW contract allows 42 days from exchange, although you and the buyer can agree a shorter or longer period.

So if you need to be out by a certain date, work back two to three months or more from it, and check where each season falls in that window.

How to choose your listing date

1. Work back from when you need to move. Allow for preparation, the campaign itself and settlement.
2. Get a price range now, so you know where you stand. Our free report and a call with Matt, our approved local agent, can help.
3. Ask a local agent what is coming onto the market in your area over the next few months.
4. Prepare the home first, then pick the best window that suits your plans.

For more on timing and price, read six free ways to check property value, and before you speak to agents, see our 21 questions to ask a real estate agent.