SEATTLE, March 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Determining the right time to put a home on the market often tops the list of concerns for sellers – as it should, since timing can influence the final sale price of each home significantly, according to new data from Zillow^®.

Zillow has found that, nationally, homes listed in late spring (May 1 through May 15), sell around 18.5 days faster and for 1 percent more than the average listingⁱ. The optimal listing window has shifted since Zillow's first analysis, featured in Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate, likely because of low inventory in housing markets across the country. When Zillow conducted this analysis previously, there were nine percent more homesⁱⁱ on the market, and homes listed between mid-March and mid-April sold fastest and for the highest price.

"The housing market today is heavily influenced by low inventory," said Zillow chief economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. "Faced with increasingly competitive markets, many buyers are forced to consider several homes and make multiple offers, elongating the home shopping experience. By listing homes further into the shopping season, sellers may attract buyers who are increasingly eager to purchase and may be more willing to pay a premium for the home."

Local market variations and weather patterns make the buying season more volatile in some parts of the country. The markets with the largest sale differences between the best months and worst months to list are regions with distinct climate changesⁱⁱⁱ, such as Seattle, Minneapolis and Washington D.C., making it more important for sellers in these regions to carefully consider the timeframe of their home sale. Sellers in Texas and California will find themselves with more flexibility in list timeframe, as these markets show little variation in sale price based on listing month. 

Applying this analysis to individual homes, today, Zillow launches Best Time to List, a new tool that helps homeowners identify the optimal time to list their own home for sale. The tool estimates^iv how much the timing of a listing will influence the final sale price.

Sellers can use this information to have a more informed conversation with their local real estate agent to determine the best time to put their home on the market. 

Zillow

Zillow^® is the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with the best local professionals who can help. Zillow serves the full lifecycle of owning and living in a home: buying, selling, renting, financing, remodeling and more. In addition to Zillow.com^®, Zillow operates the most popular suite of mobile real estate apps, with more than two dozen apps across all major platforms. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z and ZG) and headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow and Zillow.com are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

ⁱ Zillow analyzed the historical listing, sale and Zestimate data of single-family homes and condos between 2008 and 2015 within each metro to calculate the extent to which different listing date will influence the time on market and final sale price.

ⁱⁱ Each week, a count of the number of single-family, condominium and cooperative housing units listed for sale on Zillow is taken. The median of these values within a month is calculated as the monthly value. Because inventory can be seasonal, a seasonally adjusted value is reported using a standard STL procedure. This seasonally adjusted series is then smoothed using a three-month rolling average.

ⁱⁱⁱ To identify the most seasonal markets, Zillow examined the types of homes on the market at any given time, the time on market and final sale price of each home.

^iv Best Time to List analyzes the historical sales of nearby comparable homes and seasonal market conditions by zip code to calculate the extent to which different listing months will influence the final sale price of each home.

SOURCE Zillow