Is there a month Canberra vendors tend to list their house for sale?

Buyers who have been scouring the market will find that at certain times of the year a greater choice of homes come onto the market.

We have all been in the situation, ready to buy with a particular suburb, street or school catchment zone in mind when beginning a home search. And of course the other question that has to be asked: when is there going to be more homes freshly listed for sale?

Vendors traditionally tend to view spring as the best season to list their home. Spring has been the season of choice for a greater proportion of vendors during the past decade, accounting for 30.3 per cent of houses coming on to the market. If we narrow this to in the past five years, the proportion nudges lower to 30.1 per cent.

Vendors are not only activated by spring, another season edges very close. Autumn is the second season of choice for vendors, with 27.7 per cent choosing to list in the past five years. The decade average pushed marginally lower at 27 per cent.

There is no doubt autumn and spring are the distinct seasons vendors choose to list their houses for sale. They are defined by the summer holiday wind down and public holidays.

There are also particular months of choice for Canberra vendors. The most popular month to list is November. During the past year, 13.1 per cent of vendors chose to list their house in November, during the past five years the average was 12.1 per cent and the decade average nudges slightly lower at 11.8 per cent.

March is the second month of choice for vendors. The number of houses listed accounted for 10.2 per cent of new listings in the past 10 years and 10.7 per cent in the past five years.

• Related article: Should I discount the price of my home?
• Related article: Should I accept a pre-auction offer?
• Related article: Should I rent or sell my previous home?

February is another popular month for Canberra vendors to list their houses for sale. The five-year average for the month was 10.4 per cent and decade average 9.8 per cent. A slight annual decline in new houses listed for sale last month pushed it to the fifth most popular month to list in the past year.

Historically another month to watch is October, which tends to capture a high proportion of listings, with 9.6 per cent of vendors in the past 10 years and 9.5 per cent in the past five years.

Like anything in life, sometimes it’s best not be a sheep and follow the crowd. Listing your home for sale in one of the shoulder seasons could mean you’ll be competing against fewer new listings.