Should You Put Your Home on the Market Before Christmas or Wait for Boxing Day?
It's the question we get asked more than any other in November. Go now and catch the buyers who want to be in by spring, or wait, enjoy Christmas and launch into the Boxing Day rush? Here's what the numbers say for Culcheth, Lowton, Croft and Birchwood, and what we'd do in your position.
What actually happens on Boxing Day.
Rightmove's traffic almost doubles between Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Last year it rose 93%, the biggest jump they've recorded, and in the five days after Christmas buyer enquiries were up 67% on the five days before. Sellers know this too. New listings in those same five days were up 143%. It's worth being clear what that is, though. It's more people online, not more buyers. A lot of the Boxing Day traffic is people on the sofa with a laptop, thinking about whether to move at all, and most of them won't book a viewing for weeks, if ever. Serious enquiries do rise, but nowhere near as much as the scrolling does. So Boxing Day brings the biggest audience of the year, a lot of it just browsing, and the most competition from other sellers.
How long a sale takes in Culcheth, Lowton and Croft.
We looked at this last week. The typical home across Culcheth, Lowton, Glazebury, Croft, Birchwood and Fearnhead takes 45 days from going on the market to going Sold STC, and homes under £200,000 take about a month. The legal work then takes a few months on top. Put those together and the timing becomes clearer:
- Go live in mid-November and a typical home is under offer by early January, with completion realistically in March or April.
- Go live on Boxing Day and a typical home is under offer by mid-February, completing in late spring or early summer.
- Wait for February or March, which Rightmove's own data says are historically the months when the highest share of listed homes go on to complete, and you're looking at moving in the summer.
None of those is wrong. They're just different moving dates.
Boxing Day brings the most people online, not the most buyers. A lot of them are just browsing.
The case for going now.
Fewer homes come to market in late November and December, so a good one stands out. The buyers who are looking in December are serious, because nobody views houses the week before Christmas for fun. And you'd be surprised how many people want to agree a sale before Christmas so they can start the year knowing where they're going. If your home is in the faster part of the market, which across Culcheth, Lowton, Croft and Birchwood means under £300,000 or a semi, there's a real argument for not waiting.
The case for waiting.
The light. Photos taken on a grey December afternoon at half past three do not sell houses, and once a listing's photos are on Rightmove they're what everyone judges you by. If your home has a garden, a view or a south-facing room, it needs showing properly. The second reason is the audience. If you're in a slower bracket, over £500,000 say, or selling a bungalow or a detached home, your buyer pool is smaller and you need the biggest audience you can get in front of. That's Boxing Day and the fortnight after.
The option most people miss.
There's a third way, and it's the one we'd suggest for most homes: get everything ready now and go live in the first days of January. Have the valuation this month. Get the photos done on the next bright day, while there's still some colour in the gardens. Sort the paperwork, which takes longer than anyone expects, so your solicitor isn't starting from scratch in the new year.Then launch when the Boxing Day browsers have done their scrolling, had the conversation and are ready to book appointments, but before the spring rush of new stock..
Get everything ready now, and go live in the first days of January.
Whatever you do, don't go live half-ready.
Rightmove's figures also show that the homes which complete fastest are the ones that come to market properly prepared and sensibly priced. A home that starts too high, or goes live with the wrong photos, misses its biggest audience in the first fortnight. If that happens over Christmas, you've wasted the busiest two weeks of the year.
If you're buying.
The same logic works the other way round. Right now there's less choice but less competition, and sellers who have listed in November tend to be motivated.From Boxing Day there'll be far more to look at, and far more people looking at it, even if most of them are only looking.. If you've got a mortgage agreement in principle and your own sale lined up, you're in a strong position either way.
Photos taken on a grey December afternoon at half past three do not sell houses.
Want to know which option suits your home?
It depends on the price bracket, the type of home and how quickly you need to move. We can tell you how long homes like yours have taken to sell this year and what we'd do with yours. Call Sam on 01925 767000 or email sam@courtyardhomes.co.uk.
Sources: Rightmove, "Record-breaking Boxing Day bounce" (January 2026); Rightmove Plus market data for WA3 and WA2 0, sales agreed November 2025 to November 2026, Courtyard Homes analysis. This is general information, not advice about any individual home.
