Housing market heat to remain as autumn spike looms - claim

Autumn and winter have been identified as the best seasons to sell a property if an agent wants to get their vendor the highest price for their home.

Agency comparison website GetAgent analysed the past 10 years worth of property market data, looking at both sales volumes and the average sold price across each season of the year. 

It found that while the summer is the best time to sell when it comes to the volume of houses changing hands on the market, the best prices are actually achieved in the final months of the year.

The research found that sales between June to August have hit just shy of 2.7m over the past 10 years, averaging 266,820 sales per year - the most of any season. 

However, the autumn months of September, October and November aren’t far behind, with a total of 2.65m homes sold, averaging 265,198 sales per year. 

This is higher than both winter and spring, when an average of 223,897 and 229,474 respective sales take place each year. 

Sold prices have averaged £215,574 during the autumn season, according to the research, climbing to £216,541 during winter. 

In contrast, those selling in spring have achieved an average of just £207,761, with summer sellers securing £213,196 on average. 

Colby Short, chief executive of GetAgent, said: “We’ve enjoyed a prolonged period of unprecedented property market boom since the start of the pandemic and there are now fears that this stellar rate of house price growth could start to subside, due to the current economic landscape and the growing cost of living crisis.

“However, this is yet to materialise and the latest indicators show that the market has continued to perform with resilience, with house prices climbing ever higher. 

“For those worried about entering the market at present in case they can’t secure a buyer or their required asking price, the historic data shows that this trend is only likely to continue throughout the remainder of the year, with transactions likely to spike this autumn, while house prices should keep on climbing right through until Christmas.”