New analysis of house sales has revealed 68.9% of homes listed for sale in one particular month went on to successfully find a buyer
February is the best month to put your home up for sale, according to Rightmove.
New analysis of house sales has revealed 68.9% of homes listed for sale in February went on to successfully find a buyer.
January and March tied for second place. In both months, 68.8% of homes listed for sale go on to find a buyer on average. In third place came April (68.7%) and then May (67.7%).
October came bottom of the list, although 65.4% of homes listed in this month still went on to be sold. It takes seven months on average to find a buyer for a home and complete an onward purchase.
The Rightmove analysis looked at millions of properties listed for sale between 2014 and 2024, with 2020 excluded due to the coronavirus pandemic. 2025 was also not included to account for homes listed later in the year which may still be waiting to find a buyer.
January was the quickest month to find a buyer, with it take an average of 47 days. February was the next quickest at 48 days.
March was the month for the largest number of properties newly listed, and for when most overall sales are agreed on average.
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert says: “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.”
Steve Reed, Housing Secretary says: “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.”
John Baybut, Managing Director at Berkeley Shaw Real Estate in Liverpool, said: “Outside of the usual seasonality of the UK property market, conditions are strong due to lowering interest rates.
“Despite rhetoric around the economy, the UK market has consistently performed well for decades and property continues to grow in value well over the long term.
“February is usually one of the busiest months of the year with lots of new listings for sale, so serious buyers need to be ready, with mortgages in place and their own homes sold subject to contract to be first in line for the choice of homes available.”
Mike Sharman, Group Managing Director at Sharman Quinney, said: “The January market is typically a very full-on time with vendors looking to make their move in the forthcoming year.
“February and March are usually the months where a lot of new properties come to the market, mainly driven by early spring arriving. Typically, these vendors have surveyed the market, viewed a lot of properties and made a commitment to come to the market.”
