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A realtor just told me that you're more likely to sell your house, and get a better price, if the weather is better. He said cold damp weather reduces the number of people looking and interest in properties.

Are there any studies to back up this claim?

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There are clearly seasonal effects: taking reported UK residential property completions over £40,000, the government statisticians seasonally adjust the numbers, for example increasing the January figures by about 32% and reducing the June numbers by about 12% each year, to smooth out the repetitive patterns and make other factors such as the impact of the recent recession more obvious.

So people buy houses more often in summer than than in winter and my guess is that at least some of that is weather affected.

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  • wouldn't surprise me. If you look at a property in pouring rain and freezing cold it just doesn't look as nice as when it's warm and sunny and the garden is in full bloom. And those first impressions often influence peoples' buying decisions, it's an emotional process after all.
    – jwenting
    Apr 21, 2011 at 6:54
  • This answers the question of whether house prices fluctuate seasonally, but doesn't answer the original question (other than with conjecture) of whether weather affects house prices.
    – DuckMaestro
    Apr 22, 2011 at 21:22
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    The seasonal effects have more to do with non-weather reasons as far as buying. E.g. it has a LOT to do with when school year is over, for example (people with families are a lot less likely to move mid-school-year). However, from personal experience, the weather may cause summer buying to increase since moving in warm weather is probably easier/less problematic.
    – user5341
    Apr 27, 2011 at 17:58

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