If you are thinking of selling your home, it will interest you to know that demand does tend to vary from month to month and from season to season.

But, says Mike Greeff, CE of Greeff Properties, this should not deter anybody from marketing their home as and when it suits them.

“The early months of the year traditionally see a big increase in the number of homes available and in sales turnover. This is, of course, due to the promotions, retirements, redundancies and staff changes that take place at that time of year as well as to school changes and the start of university studies,” says Greeff.

“The good weather also plays an important role at this time, especially here in the Cape where we do not have summer thunderstorms.”

Coastal properties, and especially those near to Cape Town, sell particularly well in the January to April period, says Greeff.

Greeff says summer holidays, with their regular outdoor entertainment, also make people aware of how much better certain homes are suited to the alfresco lifestyle. “In some cases, this leads to a strong desire to upgrade and or renovate and to house sales taking place.

“The desire to keep up with the Jones’ is a powerful motivation to buy.”

Although advertising drops by some 15% in winter, says Greeff, these months always produce a crop of good buyers – and those buying at this time tend to be serious and want to get the job done as soon as possible.

“It takes a certain determination to go out on a cold rainy evening to look at a home. Your winter buyer, you can be assured, is a serious buyer.”

His message, therefore, is that there are definite marketing benefits in all seasons, and this should be borne in mind by sellers as well as buyers.

“Just as now is almost invariably a good time to buy, so now is also a good time to sell. If your agent is competent you can sell or buy satisfactorily at any time of the year. It certainly is a myth that you have to wait for spring to find a good buyer or a good sales market.”

Laurie Wener, Pam Golding Properties’ (PGP) MD for the Western Cape, says the traditional winter downturn is occurring again this year. “A big reason for this is the influence of sports, such as soccer, rugby and tennis as well as the extra long school holidays.”

“I have to add that 2010’s summer and winter sales have outstripped those of previous years. So it’s slowly picking up.”

She agrees with Greeff that there are both positives and negatives associated with selling in winter. “On the positive side, there is generally less stock available, so that means less competition. Serious buyers in Cape Town often want to view property and buy in the worse conditions when they can assess if there are any leaks.”

“The disadvantages include gloomy winter weather which reduces light and colour, and gardens not being at their best.”

She says winter sales have so far by and large consisted of houses for end users. “This is in contrast to speculative and investor buying. Properties that are priced according to the prevailing market conditions are generally sold fairly quickly.” – Eugene Brink

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