The holiday effect - what happens to the market at holiday time?

When I began my career in estate agency in 1989, the process of looking for a new home involved trawling through newspapers, and walking around town from estate agent to estate agent, to see what they had on their books.

The better agents would take your details and let you know when houses that may suit you came on to the market.  Others, would leave it to chance.

The bank holiday weekends, normal weekends, and school holidays were often reserved for families who were house hunting, to do just that; hunt for a house while they had time off.  They were hugely busy days, often with extra staff being drafted in to cope with the demand of the phone calls and office visitors.

Nowadays, things are very different.  With all of the houses being advertised on the internet, and families being punished by government for taking their choldren on holiday during term time; the school holidays, and bank holiday weekends, are when families are less likely to visit an estate agent or look for a new home.  The holiday time is so precious that families tend to spend time together, why wouldn't they?

At the start of the summer holidays, the country seems to empty, and with pressure on budgets, many people put off house hunting again until after the credit card bill has been paid off.

House hunting can be undertaken at anytime of day or night.  With lots of images, videos and virtual tours, including 3D walk-arounds, and Street View being available, buyers simply browse the market when it suits them on-line. They no longer need to set time aside.  Bank holidays are better spent enjoying oneself, rather than looking for houses and meeting estate agents.

House sellers can use this lull in activity to spruce up their gardens and perhaps re-vamp their marketing ready for the Autumn; when buyers make decisions about moving before Winter.

If you are selling your home during the Summer months, try not to worry, as activity usually returns when the kids have gone back to school.  Very different from the old days, but now the new norm.

If you would like any advice on how to prepare your house for sale in readyness for the Autumn market, please feel free to contact me.  I can be emailed at:-

James@wherewebelong.co.uk