When is the best time to sell your home in Utrecht? Many people automatically think of spring. The days get longer, the garden turns green and homes often photograph more beautifully. It's especially lovely when the blossom trees are in bloom. That's partly true, but determining the best moment to sell is much more than simply waiting for April or May. We look above all at the combination of demand, supply, competition, type of home, target group and presentation. So the best moment is not by definition the month in which the most homes are sold nationally, but the moment when your home is in the best starting position to get as many serious buyers as possible excited.
Contents
- Is spring the best time to sell your home?
- What do the Utrecht figures tell us about the selling season?
- September and October are often very interesting
- Are the summer holidays a bad time to sell?
- What are we seeing in 2026?
- When would we definitely not wait?
- When is it less attractive to sell your home?
- So what is the best time to sell your home?
The Utrecht housing market also moves quite a lot over the course of the year. In the figures from NVM and Brainbay, you see clear differences between months in the number of transactions, the supply, the average sale price, the price per square metre and the percentage paid above the asking price. It's precisely that combination that says something about the selling climate. A month with lots of transactions can be interesting, but if lots of comparable homes appear on Funda at the same time, the competition for your home may actually be greater. That's why we never look at just one figure.
Is spring the best time to sell your home?
Spring is definitely an interesting period to sell a home in Utrecht. Homes often look their best, there's more daylight, gardens come into their own and buyers are more active. In the Utrecht figures too, we see that the market often picks up strongly in spring. In 2024, for example, the average difference between asking price and transaction price rose from 6% in January to 13.4% in May and 14.3% in June. In 2025 we saw the same picture, with percentages of 14% in March, 13.4% in April, 13.6% in May and 14.4% in June.
Still, this doesn't mean everyone should just wait until May. We find it at least as important to look at how many comparable homes are for sale at that moment. Suppose lots of buyers are active in May, but twenty comparable homes come onto the market at the same time. Looking at the holidays and the completion of your new home also matters. A few weeks earlier there may be slightly less demand, but there may be hardly any competition online at that point. In that case, selling earlier can actually be much more interesting. Because what we'd like most is lots of competition between buyers and as little competition as possible between sellers.
What do the Utrecht figures tell us about the selling season?
If we look at the number of transactions in Utrecht city and Leidsche Rijn, we see a clear seasonal pattern. In 2024 there were 159 transactions in January, 345 in July, then 258 in August and 236 in September. The market then picked up strongly again in October and November, with 382 and 393 transactions respectively. In 2025 we see a similar pattern: 212 transactions in January, rising to 446 in July, then a dip in August and September, and then 439 transactions again in October and 431 in November. It always lags just a few weeks behind… So the busiest months are actually the month before.
By the way, that doesn't mean July is automatically the best month to put your home on Funda. In fact, July and August aren't great. After all, a transaction is registered after the home has come onto the market earlier and a buyer has been found. Above all, the figures show that spring, the start of summer and autumn are important periods with lots of movement on the Utrecht housing market.
September and October are often very interesting
After the summer holidays there's usually a lot of activity again. People come back from holiday and decide that they really do want a bigger home, a smaller home, or to finally take that step towards Utrecht. Or that they want to separate. As a result, search activity usually picks up again. At the same time, lots of new homes come onto the market too, because sellers and estate agents get going in full again after the summer.
That's exactly why we don't just look at the fact that the market is picking up, but also at the ratio between supply and demand. Sometimes this means we want to launch just before the big wave after the summer, so that a home has all the attention to itself for a while. Or like now: from 16 September Funda's prices are rising absurdly. As a result there's a huge amount of new supply. We're currently advising people to wait a little if they have the time, so they don't list their home in this enormous glut of homes. September and October can therefore be very strong, but only if the competition around your type of home is favourable. Strangely enough, October is actually always our best month.
Are the summer holidays a bad time to sell?
The summer holidays are often written off automatically, but that's too simplistic. In August people are indeed on holiday and you usually see fewer new listings, but that also means less new supply is added. In 2025, for example, 232 new homes came onto the market in August, compared with 458 in July. The number of homes for sale fell from 581 to 371 over the same period.
That can actually create opportunities. An apartment that is mainly interesting for first-time buyers, or for parents with children at university, can sell perfectly well in August. With a large family home it's different, because a larger part of the target group may actually be on holiday then. The type of home and the target group are therefore at least as important as the month in which you sell. And when it's very hot, people aren't focused on buying a home either. And yes, many estate agents say it's favourable to sell in summer because there's little competition. Our diary is usually empty in summer. Not great for cash flow. But better for your final sale price.
What are we seeing in 2026?
The 2026 figures show once again that spring and the start of summer were strong. The average difference between asking price and transaction price rose from 10.3% in January to 13.2% in February, 13.4% in March, 14.4% in April and 14.8% in May. After that the level stayed high, with 13.8% in June, 13.2% in July and 12.7% in August. At the same time, supply rose sharply. In January there were 290 homes for sale, in April 497, in June 595 and in July 648. In August that fell back again to 476.
The average price per square metre also moved strongly. It was €6,332 in January 2026, €6,903 in April, €7,078 in June, €6,764 in July and €6,853 per m² in August. You do have to be careful with this, because the mix of homes sold differs per month. In a month in which relatively many smaller apartments are sold, the average price per square metre can come out higher than in a month in which more large family homes change hands. NVM also warns that recent monthly figures may still change afterwards because transactions are reported later.
For us, the figures mainly confirm that you shouldn't only look at price development. A strong market can at the same time mean there's a lot of competition between sellers. It's also always best to get in touch with your neighbours. You'd rather not go online at the same time and then have the viewing days right after each other. It's better to wait for the one sale to finish and then go ahead with the other. The people who just missed out on the other house can move on to yours. What can be favourable, though, is listing two almost identical houses with one estate agent. Then you can let people view them at the same time. You'll have an idea of which people suit which house best and can adjust your strategy accordingly.
When would we definitely not wait?
If someone calls us in February and that person would really like to sell. There's little supply, the home is good and the preferred completion date is in 3 months or maybe even sooner. If we see in the Demand Scan that there are enough serious house hunters, we won't automatically advise waiting another two months because May is theoretically a good month to sell. Then you'd have months of the home standing empty again. And that costs money too…
Conversely, waiting can actually be smart. If a home has a fantastic garden that in February consists mainly of bare branches and wet paving, a few weeks can make a big difference to the presentation and the experience. Especially when that garden is an important part of the home's value. So timing isn't just about market data, but also about when your home shows itself at its best. At the same time, a home without outdoor space is better not sold in lovely sunny spring weather. Then the emphasis falls too much on the lack of a good garden, balcony or roof terrace.
When is it less attractive to sell your home?
If we can choose completely freely, we usually find December less interesting. Not because you can't sell a home then, because there are serious buyers in December too, but the days are short, homes often present less well and the holidays interrupt the sales process. On top of that, December is traditionally quieter and many people are busy with other things. I also always have the feeling that people are spending a lot of money and that this doesn't feel good psychologically. They're really busy with completely different things. July and August aren't top months either. The months when people are busy with other things are really less favourable for selling. In January many people start a new job and have good resolutions. January is always very, very quiet. For a long time I went skiing in week 2. Until Thursday, no calls, emails or WhatsApps. On Friday I'd hit the slopes later, because that's when people wanted to call about selling their home.
Even so, there are exceptions here too. Sometimes, when regulations are changing, it can actually be favourable to sell before the end of the year. Then people want to sell quickly before the year is out.
So what is the best time to sell your home?
If you look purely at historical figures, spring and the start of summer are among the strongest periods to sell a home in Utrecht. From March up to and including mid-June. September and October are often interesting months too. Funnily enough, October is always our best month. That's why in practice we often prefer roughly mid-March to mid-June, and then again the period after the summer holidays. That always starts again in the last week of August. We often take the photos during the summer holidays already. Calmly, at our own pace.
But we would never follow that blindly. The best sales strategy comes from the combination of timing, asking price and presentation. We look at the number of active house hunters, the current competition, homes that will soon come onto the market, the type of home, the target group, previous transactions and the way the home presents itself at that moment. But also at the most favourable planning for the move. In the end, we're not looking for the best month to sell in the Netherlands, but for the best moment to sell your home in Utrecht.
Sometimes we land on May, sometimes on September, and sometimes we look at the current supply and say: guys, if we present this well now, we shouldn't wait at all. Because a good sale doesn't come about because you happen to pick the right month, but because all the elements come together at the right moment. It's not only the month that matters. But of course the strategy too.
