When Listing a Home, This Factor Makes a Difference

What is the best day to list a home? It’s Wednesday, according to a Redfin analysis which looked at a sample of 100,000 homes that sold in 2017 to analyze which were the best and worst days to list a home.

The analysis found that homeowners who listed their homes on a Wednesday were more likely to sell them for the most money, while those listed on a Thursday, were most likely to sell their home the fastest. Sunday, got a big thumbs-down from the study as being the worst day to list on the market.

Using Sunday as the baseline, Redfin compared how much better homes did when listed on any other day of the week. The study used criteria such as ZIP code, property type, price range, size, and the dates when they were listed to find comparable homes that listed on a different day of the week.

The analysis found that a typical $500,000 home listed on a Wednesday earned the homeowner $2,650 more in terms of pricing. Thursday, got the top spot for homeowners looking at a quick sale, with the analysis revealing that homes listed on this day were more likely to be sold within 90 to 180 days compared to any other day of the week.

But why Wednesday and Thursday in particular? The analysis said that one of the explanations, why these two days were better than the rest to list a home, could be because agents who listed on Wednesday could give a more strategic pricing for the best value of a home. It could also be related to the house hunting schedules of buyers it found.

“Serious buyers typically start making their weekend house-hunting plans late in the work week,” said Karla Kirkpatrick-Adams, a Redfin agent in Denver. “You want your home to be one of the fresh listings buyers see pop up as they decide which homes they should see over the weekend.”

Regionally, the study found that in hot markets like San Francisco the day for broker’s opens (open-houses for brokers) could also affect the speed of the sale as well as the price.