Selling in August/September?

[herethereandeverywhatnow]

I know this isn’t really scientific and will vary wildly by area, but does anyone have thoughts on whether putting a property on the market in mid August is ridiculous, and it’s better to wait until September?
For context, partner and I split this Spring and I moved out of the FMH. It’s too big for either of us to take on - 5 bed, 3 storey townhouse style in SW London (so was over a million when we bought 5+ years ago). I’m annoyed because I thought we’d be able to get it on the market before the holidays and had multiple valuations, but we needed to get some jobs done which are finally finished, but I’m wondering if we’ve missed the boat and should wait until after the holidays to start marketing it?
it’s not super near any schools so can’t imagine that being a huge driver (and it’s in/near an area of lovely period properties and is a different type of house, so if won’t appeal to everyone..).

Any thoughts from anybody closer to the market than us would be gratefully received so that i know how hard to push ex on this (considering I’m in a rental but he needs to find somewhere to buy, and not much that’s suitable coming up!).

In my view there's absolutely no point in delaying until September. You need to sell and people on holiday in August will be browsing Rightmove, making a list of properties to view once they're back home.

Best get in early, why not. The main thing in the current market is realistic pricing, along with great presentation.

We sold our house in August last year.

Some months are going to be busier than others, but there will always be people looking at Rightmove and sometimes it will be the catalyst needed to start things moving.

The people who bought our house were browsing, having lost a house near to us. They had t seen anything they wanted, but ours popped up, they viewed, offered and bought. One year ago tomorrow.

Well statistically August is one of the two dead months.

March is statistically the best month with most offers by far. April and May are pretty good too (basically the whole of spring is quite strong). September and October are also quite strong months as people usually have a sudden epiphany after summer holidays to try and get moved by xmas.

January, February, June, July, November are 'average' being neither good nor bad for listing.

August and December are famously the 'dead zones' by far the least amount of interest or offers are made in these months.

My daughter is regional manager for knight Frank in London, they sell plenty in August

Personally, if you can afford to, I'd wait until September. We put a house on the market in July last year and had only a few viewings and no offers, which resulted in the agent suggesting a price reduction. We then had one offer, about 7% lower than the asking price, which we accepted.
Lots of similar houses came onto the market in September and were sold closer to our asking price.

The biggest risk is there not being enough buyer competition/ interest in August and then the listing drops down the listings because it is 'old' news.

We’ve sold houses in August and December.

I have a house that went on the market end of July, with an open day in August, it’s had over 20 viewings and several offers one of which is 20K over the asking price

We went on early mid July last year, had loads of viewings. Sadly took two significant price drops and a change agent until we sold in March. Such a slow market at the moment, I’d do all I can to maximise viewings.
If it were me I’d wait until September when you’ve got the most chance of viewings.
We’re on holiday the last week of August and really hoping nothing comes on that week as anything good is getting snapped up round by me so doubt they’d be there once we returned.

Estate agents have told us August and July are dead months. If you are selling a family house , buyers want to get their kids into schools by the start of the academic year so Spring is best. Also gardens tend to look best in spring rather than Autumn.

Thanks so much everyone!
lots to think about here (including as usual on MN totally opposite thoughts 😜), one of the agents we spoke to wanted to get buyers round off book before they launch on the portals, so considering my ex is away until mid August it may end up being that we still hit Rightmove in September anyway 🤷‍♀️. Ideally I was hoping that we’d have marketed it and sold ASAP to minimise the time I’m paying rent for (and I’ve found somewhere I want to buy) but it’s a sensitive subject so I feel like I can’t push too hard…

Just watch any edition of the weekly UK Property Market Stats show on YT. You'll see how many listings and sales occur during the year for the last 7 or 8 years. You'll also probably hear about the "London effect" or bounce that occurs when they come home from their summer retreats "in Provence".

But generally, the peak sales time is always March/April and now declines all the way through to December.

You can ask the agents to keep the property out of the websites until September. But they can still show to potencial buyers who are looking for similar properties in the area. We’ve done that with our property but mainly because we were not sure what the price was, so we only put it in the market “officially” when we understood what levels people would be willing to pay.

Our agent was keen to get us on the market just before the August bank holiday as people have more time to browse online over a bank holiday and tbf to him we did have a fair few viewings in the week after. I wouldn't delay it, just get it on the market.

I really really wouldn't wait. Things are a bit difficult in the housing market and are soon to get worse. Price it competitively before the next budget would be my thinking. It looks like we will see a small cut in interest rates tomorrow which should boost sentiment - but the Autum budget is going to be awful. It possible that this cut in rates will be the last one for a while and that they may even have to tick up again from that level before spring. That plus the coming tax rises is going to have a negative effect on values.
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-08-06/labour-set-to-break-manifesto-tax-pledge-says-leading-economic-think-tank

We put our house on the market in late July and went off on holiday, had lots of viewings while we were away, got an offer in late August. Those buyers then pulled out mid November 🙄 but we got another offer in December which subsequently was a quick sale.
So technically we sold in two worst/ dead months but that’s London for you. If you have a good house at a right price there is no dead month in a sought after area.
The only thing that a 5 bedroom townhouse will have a smaller pool of potential buyers than let’s say a 3-4 bed (also depending which area of SW London) so might take a while to sell anyway.

I don’t ever understand this. Most people don’t stop working for the entirety of August. If they’re trying to buy a house they will undoubtedly be checking rightmove / speaking to agents.

We sold a 5 bed 4 floor west London town house this time last year. Well market from August completed January (a few offers, one offer accepted then it fell through in Sept (bomad didn’t want to pay apparently!), had to re engage other offers 🙄).

So I’d say just get it on the market.

The most important thing being PRICE and condition / presentation.

If it goes on too high, your sales period will go on and on. Especially atm. If it’s a good house on at the right price, it’ll sell no matter what time of year.

No, people don't stop checking, but people looking for family homes tend to avoid July/August. Why?

• school holidays, so are probably away at least 2 weeks
• school holidays - not everyone has childcare and it's a pain dragging children to viewings
• if you're looking to buy, then you may also be looking to sell, and it's a nightmare trying to keep your own house ready for viewings when the kids are at home

It doesn't stop completely, but the activity levels are just lower.

Lots of people look in April/May/June so DC can move to start new school in September

We put our flat on in August last year - admittedly different target buyers - and then went on holiday so has viewings whilst we were away. It didn’t sell until September but we were at second viewing stage by then. It completed in Feb.

Conversely I am looking for a family home in the same area and desperate to see anything I can!

We listed mid August last year, sold two weeks later and had our onward purchase accepted two weeks after that. I think if people are looking they are always looking!

I wouldn't wait. I SSTC last week after 5 weeks on the market and had a steady 1-2 viewings a week over that time. The person who made the offer is splitting with their OH so summer or winter would not have made a jot of difference.