{"id":10676,"date":"2019-05-15T11:48:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T18:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=10676"},"modified":"2026-03-25T09:10:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:10:24","slug":"memorial-day-real-estate-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/memorial-day-real-estate-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Memorial Day Weekend Is a Major Deadline for Home Sellers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite forecasts of a spring market cooldown<\/a>, top agents across the country anticipate that this Memorial Day Weekend will be another busy time for real estate activity. Taking a closer look at this trend, HomeLight dug into historical transaction data around the holiday and what it means for home sellers this season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Spring listings get to their final closing stages<\/h2>\n

HomeLight\u2019s database of over 26 million real estate transactions shows that year after year Memorial Day is a popular time for home closings, more so than other holidays such as the Fourth of July and Labor Day.<\/p>\n

This is in part because the surge of sellers who went under contract in March and April reach the final stages of the transaction at the end of May. As a three-day weekend, it also gives people extra time to complete their move, while in northern regions, the weather can still be too much of a gamble to plan for outings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s traditionally a busy weekend for us,\u201d said Andrew Hargreaves<\/a>, a top-selling agent in Northwest Michigan. \u201cIt’s often still a bit chilly for vacation for many so people usually wait until school is out in June to go on their trips.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, 15,564 homes were marked across the country as being sold (or closing on) Memorial Day, up from 15,211 the year prior. Compare that to 8,504 homes sold on the Fourth of July, and 11,520 homes sold on Labor Day 2018. In comparison, the following (non-holiday) Monday in June 2018 had 10,545 sales recorded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Memorial Day signals the start of summer selling season in many markets<\/h2>\n

Observed on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day also lands on the cusp of the summer real estate season, when home buyer and seller activity continues to swell. Parents look to get settled before the next school year and snowbirds want to lock-in their second-home for the upcoming winter around this time.<\/p>\n

This year in particular, on-the-fence sellers would be wise to get their home listed in time for the next wave of summer home hunters. In 2019, lower-than-expected interest rates (with the 30-year fixed averaging 4.1%<\/a>) have delivered the jolt of confidence buyers needed<\/a> to put their house search on overdrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first few months of the year were a little sluggish in my market,\u201d said Laurie Davies<\/a>, a top-selling agent in Boca Raton, Florida. \u201cThen we started seeing a huge turn once interest rates dropped. So after the first quarter, starting I would say in April and already in May so far, the amount of home sales has increased substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, HomeLight data shows that historically, listing competition increases throughout Memorial Day Weekend and into the first and second weekends in June.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2018, a total of 19,420 listings hit the market over Memorial Day Weekend (including Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) across the country with the following breakdown:<\/p>\n