There are a number of critical timing factors to consider when you have made the decision to sell your home, and not all of them have to do with the current state of your real estate local trends to Sellers' Market, Balanced Market, or Buyers' Market.
First of all acquaint yourself with the economic dynamics of your area. If there is a huge employer in the region and it seems as they are on their last legs, it might not be a great idea to wait too long to sell. Housing prices in the immediate area can plummet literally within hours of an announcement of a large plant closing in expectation that there will be a flood of homes coming onto the market from all the workers who now have to move to another city to find work.
Interest rates have to come under serious scrutiny by prospective home sellers as well. The Bank Of Canada rate for money that the government lends to private banks has been as high as nearly 20% in the 1980s and down to nearly zero more recently, making loans of all kinds as affordable as they can possibly be. When borrowing is affordable, individuals have legitimate advantages to obtaining loans as they cost far less in interest than at other times. Therefore, a buyer can afford to buy a more expensive home in low interest rate times as the monthly payment will contain less interest and more principal. Consider it as more of the money going to you and less going to pay the interest.
The time of year is also an extremely important factor. Most of Canada suffers through abysmal winters with excessively cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls. During those winter months, many Canadians prefer to cocoon in their homes, or hit the slopes and rinks, and shopping for residential real estate is not foremost in their minds. This has both a positive and a negative impact since although far less buyers are looking for homes, the inventory on the market in the winter is also at its lowest point, so there are fewer properties for the buyers to view. However, by all means, skip the couple of weeks of the Holiday Season as that is generally a very poor time to sell a home as most people are either away on vacation or concentrating on social events.
The best times for placing a residential property on the market if you're looking for a sizeable buyer pool is in the spring as it is the preferred time for families with children to purchase a home. it is important to remember that homes are sold every single week of the year, and the seasons should not be the most significant determining factor on when you place your home on the market.
There are internal factors at work in the timing decision as well. If you are under urgent financial pressures or have just been transferred to another city, then you have no choice but to sell right now. However, if you are not in such a state of dire panic, you should also consider the school year, the reaction of the people in the household to the move, your work obligations, the situation with scheduled major events such as surgeries, and all of the myriad of factors which come into play whenever the sale of a home is being pondered.