The Best Time To Sell Your Home in 2026 (According to What Actually Happened in 2025)
By looking closely at buyer behaviour, pricing trends, and market momentum throughout 2025, we can draw clear, practical lessons for sellers heading into 2026. In this article, we break down what last year really taught us, and how you can use those insights to decide when to bring your home to market for the best possible result.
Every year I hear the same thing:
“Josh… when’s the best time to put it on the market?”
And every year, people expect some mystical answer like…
“Ah yes… Mercury is in retrograde, the wind is blowing east, and Kirsty & Phil have just had a flat white… therefore, list on the 14th.”
But the truth is boringly simple:
The market has patterns
And 2025 gave us a pretty clear blueprint for how 2026 is likely to behave.
So if you’re thinking about moving this year — or even thinking about thinking about moving — here’s what the data says, in plain English.
The two months that gave sellers the best odds
Rightmove’s 2025 research found that February and March were the strongest months to list, because homes listed then were most likely to go all the way through to completion.
And here’s the headline that matters:
66.3% of homes listed in February and March went on to complete.
Compare that to the overall average success rate across 2025:
55.53%.
That’s not a tiny difference.
That’s the difference between:
“We’ve sold!”
and
“We’ve reduced again…”
And it isn’t just a one-off 2025 thing either, Rightmove said this trend matches what they’ve tracked across millions of listings going back to 2012 (excluding 2020 because… well… 2020).
Speed matters more than people realise
Here’s the part most sellers don’t understand:
The first few weeks are everything
That’s when your listing is “new”, buyers are watching, alerts are pinging, and people are emotionally switched on.
And historically, January and February are the joint quickest months to find a buyer — averaging around 51 days.
March and April are basically tied just behind at 52 days.
So if your goal is:
- less stress
- less messing about
- less “is it still available?” tyre-kickers
- more serious buyers
- and cleaner negotiation
…then getting your timing right early in the year helps.
The Boxing Day myth (and what actually matters)
People always talk about Boxing Day like it’s the property market’s New Year’s Eve.
To be fair it is busy.
Rightmove recorded its busiest ever Boxing Day in 2025, with visits nearly doubling (+93%) from Christmas Day.
But here’s what’s more useful for sellers:
The real surge builds in January.
Rightmove’s data showed that visits in the second week of January are typically around 69% higher than the first week of December.
So what happens is:
- Boxing Day: people browse
- Early Jan: people get serious
- Mid-late Jan onwards: viewings + offers start stacking up
That’s the wave you want to catch.
Why early 2026 is looking tasty
There’s also a second ingredient here:
Momentum
Post-Budget sentiment data suggested a chunk of people paused their plans, waited for clarity… and then jumped back in.
So when you combine:
- seasonal buyer demand (New Year energy)
- and the return of “paused movers”
- and the historic success rates of Feb/March
…you’ve got a window where sellers usually get the best results.
Not every year is identical — but patterns are patterns.
What I’d do if I was selling in Gravesend in 2026
If you want the cleanest run at it:
Get your prep done early Jan
- photos / video
- presentation tweaks
- price strategy
- paperwork ready
- your “launch plan”
Hit the market at the right time
Not when you feel like it.
When buyer demand is peaking.
Because when the market is busy, you get:
- more viewings
- more competition
- better offers
- and a stronger negotiating position
And that’s the whole point!
