Here we’re going to ask, is the Boxing Day Bounce a real thing …. or is it just a load of old baloney?
What the Boxing Day Bounce is
The Boxing Day Bounce is the time of the year when listings of homes for sale – and online viewings for them – are supposed to surge above and beyond any other day.
According to Rightmove the 2024 Boxing Day Bounce smashed all records.*
Their stats showed that enquiries about homes for sale were 20% higher than a year before.
Their site saw the highest number of Boxing Day visits in history, surpassing the previous record set in 2021.
Is the Boxing Day Bounce for real?
Let’s be frank. A lot of people find themselves at a loose end on Boxing Day. Looking at homes for sale online is a way of passing some time.
Boxing Day is a big day for browsing the Internet in any case. People jump on there to look for a holiday, a new job, a new sofa …. or a cure for the dog’s diarrhoea.
So, it’s only to be expected that hits on property websites will surge too.
It’s more than likely that a lot of people browsing property sites at holiday times are just window shopping. (Or having a nosey at number 22’s tastes in the bedroom department.) They’re not all serious buyers.
Call us cynical, but the Boxing Day Bounce stinks of PR puffery more than the Christmas Stilton in the back of the fridge stinks of stink. It’s a bit of a ploy to get people to think about buying and selling at what can be a slow time of the year.
Even Rightmove’s own figures point that way.
Their figures suggest February and March, closely followed by April and January, are the best months to list a home for sale based on the likelihood it will complete successfully. **
So what do we think? (Honest advice)
If you’re going to join in the Boxing Day Bounce feel free.
We hope you have fun.
But don’t take it too seriously.
In our honest opinion a well presented home that’s correctly priced will find a buyer whatever time of the year it goes on the market.
So don’t feel pressurised by the PR spin.
Do what’s right for you. Not for the PR gurus.
If you are actually thinking of selling and you’d like an accurate market valuation on your property, whatever the time of year, give us a call.
We’d love to sell your home for you. But we want to sell it when it suits you not when it suits us.
If you know someone who might find this article interesting please share it with them.
Sources:
** Rightmove