Property experts are warning that sellers are missing out on the chance to take advantage of the New Year surplus of demand by falling victim to misleading market advice.

DESPITE the commonly held belief that winter can be a time to avoid selling a home, Warners Solicitors & Estate Agents is urging sellers not to miss out on the surge in interest witnessed during the first two weeks of the year.

Based on statistics from last winter, the average Warners property received close to 300 average views per week on espc.com during November. This figure declined to below 200 at the end of December, before rocketing to more than 400 views during the first week of 2016. After these first two weeks though, the amount of views that an average property received dipped back to around 300 as more properties started to come onto the market.

This interest was backed by the sales figures – with all but four of the 17 properties listed during this time under offer by the middle of February and all but three achieving a selling price exceeding Home Report valuation, with premiums in excess of £10,000 or even £20,000 above valuation.

David Marshall, Operations Director at Warners Solicitors & Estate Agents, said that with an overall shortage of homes on the market, there is every likelihood that demand to snap up the best properties will spike even higher as we enter 2017.

He said: “It is understandable for a number of reasons why people are more reluctant to put their home on the market in December and early in the New Year as funds can be tighter and a reluctance to deal with buyers over the festive period.

“Yet those prospective sellers who can manage it are doing themselves a disservice by not doing so sooner.

“Every year we see the same pattern. The New Year acts as a trigger for many people to kick off their search for a new home and every year a huge number of buyers start looking almost as soon as the Hogmanay bells have stopped chiming, only to be disappointed at the lack of homes that are available.

“It sounds obvious, but if you are looking to sell then you will want to act when demand is high and supply is low. In early January, that is precisely the case as there is a large amount of demand from buyers but very little supply from sellers. This means that for those sellers who do get their home on the market early have an opportunity to secure a great price for their property.

“For anyone thinking of selling this winter, we would strongly advise them to get their home on the market as early as possible so that you can take advantage of the high demand from buyers and beat the rush of sellers who will come onto the market in February and March.”

To help with the selling process, Warners has launched a Winter Promotion which allows sellers to get their home on the market with no upfront costs. That way sellers can avoid paying hundreds of pounds for things like their Home Report, marketing and photography until their property has successfully sold while still taking advantage of the rush of buyers in the New Year.

Warners operates three property centres in Edinburgh and is one of the capital’s leading estate agents for property transactions.

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