Sell during school holidays for best deal

Autumn half term could be the best time for securing a good deal on your property if wanting to sell before Christmas, research has revealed.

Online estate agent eMoov looked at price paid data from the Land Registry across each holiday and term time to see when is best to list and take advantage of fluctuating price bands, to complete on your house sale throughout the year.

Although a much higher number of properties are sold during longer terms, the average sold price in school terms is £296,128, £12,000 less than holiday sold prices (£308,150).

So if you’re looking to sell before 2017 is up, getting your property ready to list now is your best chance at achieving the highest sold price possible. It takes around six weeks to complete and around two months to sell according to Rightmove.

The best time of year to complete on your sale is the Easter holidays, with the average price paid reaching £398,041. The spring term leading up to Easter is the second highest at £324,632, with the spring half term (£323,052), the autumn half term (£303,003) and Christmas holidays (£300,367) also providing the best windows for a higher paid price.

This Autumn half term and a 12 per cent higher sold price than the current term time itself is just seven weeks away. So if you’re sitting on the house selling fence, now could be your best opportunity to achieve a better sold price either during the half term break or Christmas holidays, without holding out until Spring 2018.

CEO of sMoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, said: "As we wave goodbye to summer and finally see the kids return to school, many will pause for a breath and a well-deserved cup of tea. However, for those of us with a property sale forthcoming, our attention will soon be drawn to when to sell with an eye on completing before Christmas.

Whilst the Christmas break offers an opportunity to get a sale over the line, and for a marginally higher sold price, when combined with the additional stress of the festive period it can be a tough ask.

As this research shows, the best window to aim for, albeit a smaller one, is the autumn half term. Of course, you can never say for sure how long a sale will take as each is individual, but as a good rule of thumb, getting the preparation of floor plans and photos out of the way now, puts you in a very good position once the market picks up mid-term and continues to do so right up until Christmas.”