Ask Emma Hall - Is Christmas the best or worst time to buy or sell a property?

Published: 28/11/2017

It’s true – the market is generally slow around the holiday season, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get your property transaction started before Christmas.

Over the past few years, property websites have reported an increase in traffic over the Christmas period and definitely, with the property market becoming increasingly technological (with more and more websites making it easy to browse through thousands of listings), this a trend I expect will only increase.  Gifting, cooking and other festive activities can just as easily be done between a few quick glances at your iPhone, so there is no reason to think buyers and sellers aren’t still browsing at this time!

Indeed, many such sites such as Rightmove are reporting massive increases in traffic even on Christmas day. This really isn’t that surprising – it’s at this time of year that most people have a proper break from work.

Even if don’t fancy listing your property or shopping for your new one at Christmas,  you shouldn’t forget that January is always one of the busiest times for the property market, as many buyers and sellers seek to fulfill New Year’s Resolutions and snag that #dreamhome.

Any type of property transaction is time-consuming and complex. It is best to seek at least the advice of an experienced property solicitor sooner rather than later, if you want to take advantage of what I expect will be a very lucrative property market going into 2018.

Emma Hall, Head of Sales at GWlegal