February is the best month of the year to list your home for sale based on the likelihood of a seller successfully finding a buyer, according to research from Rightmove (RMV.L).
The property platform’s analysis, published on Wednesday, looked at millions of properties listed for sale between 2014 and 2024. However, it excluded 2020 from the analysis due to the pandemic, while 2025 was left out of the research to account for homes that were listed later in year and may still be on the market.
From this analysis, Rightmove found that an average 68.9% of homes listed for sale in February went on to successfully find a buyer.
January, when activity starts to ramp back up after the Christmas period, and March, which Rightmove noted to be the popular month in spring to sell, came in joint second place. An average 68.8% of homes which were listed for sale in those two months went onto find a buyer.
The data suggested that April was the third best month to put a home up for sale, with 68.7% of properties listed going on to find a buyer, followed by May (67.7%).
Rightmove pointed out spring is known for typically being the peak season for buying and selling. Given that it takes an average seven months to find a buyer and complete an onward purchase, Rightmove said that many people aim to make progress on moves in the spring, so they can try to be in a new home before Christmas.
While October came in last place, the analysis showed that an average 65.4% of homes listed in this month still go onto find a buyer on average, which is not far behind February’s rate. Rightmove said this highlighted that the “best time to come to market is when home-movers are ready and motivated”.
The property platform’s analysis also found that January was the quickest month to find a buyer. The data showed that, over the 10-year period analysed, homes listed for sale in January found a buyer in an average of 47 days. February was found to be the second quickest month, at an average of 48 days.
March was found to be the busiest month for overall home-moving activity. Rightmove said that March had the largest number of homes newly listed on the market for sale, when the most buyers come to market on average across the year, as well as when most overall sales are agreed on average.
Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, 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.”
Mary-Lou Press, president of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) Propertymark, said: “Compared to the previous few years, the conditions for buying and selling a home seem to be improving.
“Many estate agents are reporting a busier market compared to this time last year, the Bank of England’s base rate is improving, the UK government is proceeding with homebuying and selling reforms that will help improve the process for millions of consumers, and banks are offering more affordable mortgage products, especially for first-time buyers.”
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