February is the best month to sell your home

The crocuses are beginning to appear and with them comes the best time to sell a home, according to recent research.

New analysis from the property platform Rightmove, reveals that February is the most likely time to find a buyer for your property.

The analysis looked at millions of properties listed for sale over a 10-year period between 2014 and 2024.

The analysis excluded 2020 because of the pandemic, and 2025 could not be taken into account because of homes listed later in the year, which may still be waiting to find a buyer.

In a tightly contested piece of analysis, February just came out on top as the best month to get a home sold, with 68.9 per cent of homes listed for sale in the month going on to successfully find a buyer.

January – and the Boxing Day bounce – are typically when activity starts ramping up after a quieter run up to Christmas.

And January and March, the popular spring selling month, tied for second place.

In both months, 68.8 per cent of homes listed for sale go on to find a buyer on average.

In third place came April (68.7 per cent) and then May (67.7 per cent), further highlighting the popularity of the Spring moving season.

Although October came bottom of the list, 65.4 per cent of homes listed in this month still go on to find a buyer on average, not far below February’s rate, highlighting that the best time to come to market is when home-movers are ready and motivated.

In other metrics, January was identified as the quickest month to find a buyer on average, even if it was just pipped by February as the most successful month to sell.

Homes listed for sale in January over the 10-year analysis found a buyer in an average of 47 days. February was the next quickest at 48 days.

March came out as the busiest month overall for home-moving activity.

This is the month with the largest number of properties newly listed on the market for sale, when most buyers come to market on average across the year, and when most overall sales are agreed.

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, said: “It’s a tight contest, but on average February is the best month to get your home sold, followed by further strong months during the upcoming and very important spring home-moving season.

“Sellers who are yet to act but are considering a 2026 move might consider coming to market soon to take advantage of the increase in home-buyer activity.”

Housing Secretary Steve Reed added: “Selling a home is often about a fresh start – a bigger place, a growing family, or a new chapter – but too often the process makes it far harder than it needs to be.

“We’re making changes to the buying and selling process to get the system moving more quickly, stop transactions falling through, and remove all that unnecessary stress during what should be a really exciting next step towards their dream home.”