While many UK home sellers may choose to sit back and relax over the festive period with the intention of picking things back up in the New Year, data from Yomdel shows why having your property on the market over Christmas, particularly Christmas Eve, could aid your sale and secure a buyer in these tougher market conditions.
Yomdel provides managed live chat to over 2,500 UK estate agents and facilitates thousands of enquiries from buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants, providing a key insight into when the market is at its busiest, and what proportion of this is attributed to buyer demand.
It’s true that the market does tend to wind down in December, and Yomdel’s data highlights this. However, it also highlights that market activity is higher in December than the New Year, with the company receiving 7% of all inbound activity for the year, compared to just 6% in January.
| Month | Percentage of yearly activity |
| Jan | 6% |
| Feb | 7% |
| Mar | 9% |
| Apr | 8% |
| May | 9% |
| Jun | 8% |
| Jul | 10% |
| Aug | 9% |
| Sep | 8% |
| Oct | 9% |
| Nov | 8% |
| Dec | 7% |
Table shows what percentage of all incoming market activity for the year is attributed to each month.
A notable 46% of all this December activity is attributed to buyer enquiries alone, with the rest shared between sellers, landlords and tenants. So if UK home sellers want the best chance to hit the ground running in 2019, having their property on the market before the year is out is essential.
| December activity by enquiry type | |||
| Sellers | Landlords | Buyers | Tenants |
| 17% | 9% | 46% | 27% |
Table shows what percentage of incoming market activity for December is attributed to each category.
The busiest week for buyer enquiries over the Christmas period is the holiday break, and between 22nd to 28th, 49.2% of all activity is buyer related.
| Week | Percentage of weekly activity attributed to buyers |
| 1st-7th | 45.4% |
| 8th-14th | 45.7% |
| 15th-21st | 43.4% |
| 22nd-28th | 49.2% |
| 29th-31st | 46.4% |
Table shows buyer activity as a percentage of all leads for each week.
Data from Rightmove has previously highlighted the Boxing Day Bounce of UK buyers, but Yomdel’s data shows that while more of us may sofa surf the day after Christmas, the spike in actual buyer activity begins earlier – on Christmas Eve.
The busiest day for buyer demand is the 24th December with 61% of all activity on the day coming from buyers.
| Day | Percentage of daily activity attributed to buyers |
| 22nd December | 44.3% |
| 23rd December | 53.4% |
| 24th December | 61.0% |
| 25th December | 54.5% |
| 26th December | 57.6% |
| 27th December | 47.7% |
| 28th December | 43.8% |
Table shows buyer activity as a percentage of all leads for each day.
Property and Business Growth Expert and Yomdel CEO, Andy Soloman, commented:
“While we all take a few days to spend with family and friends over Christmas, it can be a missed opportunity for those that completely neglect their property sale until the New Year has been rung in.
Of course, we don’t suggest you host viewings or chase your agent over Christmas dinner, although last year some did just that, but by getting those few first steps sorted now you can maximise your chances of finding a buyer in what is currently a very tough climate.
We would advise that anyone considering a sale early next year should at the very least have an agent instructed, their floorplans and photos completed, and their property listing advertised on all of the major online property websites in the coming weeks.”
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