The best month to get a home sold - Rightmove

4th February 2026

February has been identified as the best month to get your home sold, based on the likelihood of successfully finding a buyer.

Rightmove looked at millions of properties listed for sale over a ten-year period between 2014 and 2024. 

2020 was excluded from the analysis due to the pandemic, while 2025 was excluded to account for homes listed later in the year which may still be waiting to find a buyer.
 

February is the best month to get your home sold on average

In a tightly contested piece of analysis, February just came out on top as the best month to get a home sold, with 68.9% of homes listed for sale in the month going onto successfully find a buyer.

January, typically when activity starts ramping up after a quieter Christmas period, and March, the popular Spring selling month, tied for second place. In both months, 68.8% of homes listed for sale go onto find a buyer on average.

Spring is typically known as the peak buying and selling season. 

With it taking a lengthy seven months on average to find a buyer for a home and complete an onward purchase, many aim to progress moves here to try and get in a new home before Christmas.

In third place came April (68.7%) and then May (67.7%) further highlighting the popularity of the Spring moving season. 

Although October came bottom of the list, 65.4% of homes listed in this month still go onto find a buyer on average, not far below February’s rate, highlighting that the best time to come to market is when home-movers are ready and motivated.

What else did the data show?

In other metrics, January was identified as the quickest month to find a buyer on average, even if it was just pipped by February as the most successful month to sell.

Homes listed for sale in January over the ten-year analysis found a buyer in an average of 47 days. February was the next quickest at 48 days.

March came out as the busiest month overall for home-moving activity. It’s the month with the largest number of properties newly listed on the market for sale, when most buyers come to market on average across the year, and when most overall sales are agreed on average.

What do the experts think?

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert says: “It’s a tight contest, but on average February is the best month to get your home sold, followed by further strong months during the upcoming and very important Spring home-moving season. Sellers who are yet to act but are considering a 2026 move might consider coming to market soon to take advantage of the increase in home-buyer activity.”

Mary-Lou Press, president of NAEA Propertymark, said: “Many people are clearly preparing for a house sale before more people flock to the housing market once winter is over and the busier spring months begin.

“Compared to the previous few years, the conditions for buying and selling a home seem to be improving. Many estate agents are reporting a busier market compared to this time last year, the Bank of England’s base rate is improving, the UK Government is proceeding with homebuying and selling reforms that will help improve the process for millions of consumers, and banks are offering more affordable mortgage products, especially for first-time buyers.

“All of these factors should result in 2026 being a buoyant year for the UK’s housing market.”