The Boxing Day bounce – to list or not to list?
Boxing Day is a popular discussion topic for estate agents pre-Christmas as they head to market appraisals in the dark days before Christmas. Read more to find out why.
Rightmove recently released their statistics on the 2022 seasonal spike; they reported an 82% increase in visits to the site on Boxing Day alone.
The conversation about people looking at properties online on Boxing Day provokes fierce arguments on social media every year. Is this an accurate representation of new people looking to buy homes? Is the spike in traffic over-hyped by the portals? Is it a tactic used by estate agents in speaking to prospective clients because they have a business drive to level out the December trough in listings?
Our experience of staging homes in the premium market does bear out the theory that a well-marketed home launched on Boxing Day will attract significant interest.
One 2022 launch sold at 10% above the guide price, which was pretty amazing a few weeks after the disastrous Truss/Kwarteng
budget.
We have never staged a home for a Boxing Day launch that hasn't accepted an offer by mid-January. Wow! That's a pretty big claim.
Why does this happen?
It is true that there will be far more window shoppers around; scrolling through Rightmove might be a good alternative to playing Monopoly with Auntie Maud or watching No Time to Die for the 8th time.
Equally, just like on the High Street, a window shopper can be converted into a sale by the right product marketed really well.
Families often have more time together over Christmas to talk about big life decisions that get put on the back burner while juggling work, family and everyday life. The holiday companies traditionally put huge advertising budgets into TV advertising over Christmas. They know that seeing a really tempting holiday at a time when the weather is miserable and a couple has time to dream will convert into sales.
Newly gifted gadgets such as the latest phone and a new iPad all add to the urge to search online. But, as always, window shoppers will scroll past poorly presented listings with poor photos and videography.
Staging your property for sale properly is vital to attract those buyers and stop the scroll!
Contact By Design today if you want to learn how to boost your property sale by taking advantage of the Boxing Day bounce.
By Elaine Penhall
email hello@lemonandlimeinteriors.co.uk
Credit – Rightmove, 2023
