The real estate market constantly fluctuates, and in New Jersey, some months see significantly lower home sales than others. As a homeowner in NJ looking to sell your house, timing the listing right to avoid slow sales periods can have a major impact. So what are generally considered the hardest months for home sales in New Jersey? Here’s an overview of the NJ real estate market’s annual cycles and the most challenging times to attract buyers.
The Winter Slowdown
January, February and even March tend to be slower seasons in the NJ real estate market. During the holidays from mid-November through New Years and in the cold winter months, buyer demand declines. With families focused on holiday travel and events, fewer prospective purchasers are out touring homes. Cold, snowy and icy winter weather also discourages both buyers and agents from venturing out to showings.
Between 2015-2019, February saw the fewest home sales closed of any month in NJ, followed by January according to New Jersey Realtors data. March saw a moderate improvement from the previous two months. But all three winter months saw average state home sales around 20% lower than peak spring and summer months. If you list a home during the winter slowdown, expect it to potentially take longer to find a buyer and finalize a sale.
The Summer Doldrums
As spring home buying season winds down in May and June, sales activity takes another dip heading into midsummer. Many families take vacations over the summer months, with kids also out of school. With its abundant shoreline destinations, summer is prime vacation season in New Jersey specifically. And between weekend getaways and longer trips, potential home buyers often put their search on pause over these warmer months.
While not as severe a dip as winter, average NJ home sales in both July and August fall around 8-12% below the May/June market peak. With overall lower buyer demand, homes may receive less interest and offers than during more active sales seasons. Sellers who list over these summer months need to price competitively and market homes actively to generate interest.
The Fall Recovery
As summer ends, home buying activity picks up again heading into fall. September sees a boost in sales as families settle back into routines and markets recover from the midsummer slowdown. October brings even more renewed buyer interest and homes often see good activity into November before the winter decline begins.
Outside of holidays and bad winter weather, fall is generally far easier to entice buyers and sell homes in NJ compared to winter and summer. Competitively priced and marketed listings in September, October and November are likely to receive solid buyer traffic.
Key Takeaways
Ultimately January through March bring the biggest challenges selling homes due to regular winter slowdowns. July and August also see dips in summer activity but not as substantially. Avoid these five months if possible when listing to optimize sales success. September, October and early November tend to offer the best-balanced market of buyers to sellers during fall conditions. While no months in NJ may be “easy” per se right now amid broad national real estate impacts, properly pricing and timing your home sale based on market conditions can still make a big difference!
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