By David Marshall

Despite the commonly held belief that the market goes into hibernation over winter, latest figures show that buyers and sellers are now active throughout the year.

Analysis of selling patterns over recent months has shown evidence of a ‘year-round’ market, even during the typically quieter winter months – as opposed to the expected spikes in peak periods such as spring and early autumn after the school holidays.

Figures collated show that in the past, seasonality played a substantial role in levels of buyer activity. Sales results for 2007 show that 32% of all homes that year were sold between March and May, despite an average expectancy of 25% across any three month period.

However, in 2016 the market appeared to have smoothened out with 25.3% of sales completed across the same three month period, showing signs that the market is steering away from seasonal trends.

A number of factors have led to the market becoming less seasonal and therefore impacted the increase of sales during the winter months.

The fact that these days sellers can be easily contacted by phone and email, even when away on holiday, has certainly made people more willing to put their home on the market regardless of the time of year.

Agents with a good local presence can still take care of everything for sellers while they’re away on holiday, including arranging viewings, providing feedback for potential buyers, chasing up leads and negotiating offers.

The reasons sellers put their properties on the market has also differed over the years further impacting on confounding seasonal trends.

Following the downturn in the market in 2008 people typically only chose to sell out of necessity, usually because of a change in their employment or family status, or due to financial concerns.

Even as market conditions have improved, we have continued to see more of a year round market which reached a peak in 2016.

Part of this is because the idea that spring was a ‘better’ time to sell is now becoming apparent as a somewhat flawed concept.

While it was fair to say that more homes were sold during the spring months, there were also more homes coming onto the market in these periods.

It is the balance between supply and demand that matters most in dictating trends, rather than the notion that a particular month is a good time to sell.

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