As you probably already know… the real estate market is always cyclical. What you may not know is that California doesn’t necessarily follow the national real estate trends. The primary reason for this is due to our climate. With a few small outliers, the market cycle follows a specific pattern.
DECEMBER & JANUARY
These are our LOWEST months of the year for active homes! While this may seem pretty self explanatory, the market slows and basically hits the reset button during December. With the holidays in full swing, most buyers or tenants simply don’t have the same amount of time to invest in their search or relocation plans. Landlords/Owners that choose to sell their home during this time are typically VERY motivated and there are some great opportunities for the Tenants/Buyers that are willing to stay engaged and committed to the buying process this time of year!
FEBRUARY - JUNE
From Valentines Day through Father’s Day is peak rental/sales season. We typically advise our clients to go on the market on or around Valentines day because… We Love Real Estate, and they really need to consider being under contract on or before Dads/Grads weekend. If you miss that cutoff… you will probably miss the annual peak. Once Father’s Day and Graduation has taken place, there is a vacuum in the market. I can get into this in greater detail another day and time.
JULY - SEPTEMBER
This is Vacation Season! There is a significant slow down in the market and the reason for this is simple… most people in Southern California are now going on vacation. With the school out, great weather and COVID in the rearview mirror buyer’s are headed out!
OCTOBER - NOVEMBER
This is actually a good time for both buyers and sellers. While you would think it would be slow due to the shorter days and less daylight, the cooler weather brings activity back to the market for one last push into the holiday season as previously mentioned above. Many tenants/buyers want to be in their next home by year end. There could be tax benefits to close at the end of the calendar year, there could be ideas of entertaining for the holidays, and there could be the idea of simply nesting and getting settled for the winter.
CONCLUSION
As a landlord, or a prospective seller the best thing you can do is always work towards the time of year that works in your favor. If you are a landlord and your lease is ending at or towards the end of the year, we would like to suggest that you allow that lease to move into a month-to-month rental agreement and then give notice towards the first part of the next calendar year, knowing the holiday season will run massive interference with your rental goals. For more information on ending your lease, check out this other post we have for you on Ending the Lease. Regardless of whether you are thinking about leasing, buying, or selling, you can be strategic and engineer a plan… a proven and successful plan, as there are real estate cycles. Every market comes with some advantages and in many cases some disadvantages. Our goal is to help you capitalize on the right opportunity at the right time!
