The best day to list a home is one of the most popular questions in real estate, year after year. While it’s important not to overthink this question when you’re getting ready to list a home, it is worth considering. Fortunately for all of the curious minds out there, real estate professionals have taken the time to observe and publish a good amount of information on this topic. Here’s just about everything there is to know about the best — and worst — day to list a home.

Seasonal variations in the real estate market demonstrate why it is relevant to think about timing when you’re selling a home. In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has been following and documenting seasonal fluctuations in home sales for years. As you might expect, sales go up in Spring and Summer, and then they dip in the Fall and Winter. This well-known trend is one of the simplest — but most helpful — things you can know about timing your sale.

For those still wondering what is the specific best day to list a home, the NAR has research on that too. Real estate professionals have analyzed data on home sales, comparing the day of the week on which a home was listed to its final sale price. Since homeowners want to get as much money as possible for their homes, getting a higher percentage of the home’s original list price indicates better results. According to the results of the study, homes listed on Friday sold for a higher percentage of their list price than those listed on any other day. The average sale price for home listings published on a Friday — any Friday — amounted to 99.1% of the listing price. Since home sellers often list a little higher than what they’re actually willing to take, this is a pretty impressive figure.

There’s no single day of the year when you should avoid listing a home if you’re ready to sell. However, it is true that certain days are just not as ideal as others. Seasonally, the winter will be the worst time to list, because no one wants to move during the winter. Just as you can see a spike in home sales during the spring and summer, there is a corresponding dip in the fall and winter. It doesn’t mean that the housing market shuts down, but buying is just not generally as vigorous.

Going back to the abovementioned study on days of the week, it turns out that there is a worst day, but it’s not really that much worse than the best day. According to the NAR study, homes listed on Sundays tended to sell for around 98.4% of the homeowner’s asking price. This means that, at least according to the foremost U.S. realty trade organization, there’s only about a 0.7% difference in the relative final sale prices of homes listed on the worst day compared with those listed on the best day. This shows that, while valid, concerns about the best and worst day to list should not be given too much consideration. Then again, it’s worth pointing out that a 0.7% difference could equate to thousands of dollars, or even tens of thousands in some cases, when you’re talking about a home sale. The bottom line: it doesn’t hurt to list on a Friday.

Any information you encounter about the best day or best season to list a home should be taken in context. When someone says, for instance, that Spring is the best time of year to list a home, that is assuming that all other variables are equal. If nothing else happens to shift the market, Spring is probably the best time to list, and Friday is probably the best day. In reality, however, other factors can influence the market independent of the day, time, or season.

Macroeconomic variables factor heavily into real estate prices and real estate sales. Take mortgage rates, for instance. When rates go down, home buyers are more active. When rates go up, sales tend to fall. Mortgage rates are driven largely by Federal Reserve interest rate decisions. Rates can move up or down at any time, regardless of the season.

Home inventory is another factor that moves the real estate market. Generally speaking, it’s going to take longer to sell a home the more inventory there is, unless there is an uptick in home buying to absorb the additional supply.

The bottom line is that real estate is an industry; it moves with the economy more so than with the seasons or days of the week.

Different realtors will have different opinions regarding the best day to list a home — and maybe the worst day too. You should work with an agent whom you trust to give input on these matters, even if your agent’s perspective differs from what you read online. For instance, perhaps you’re interested in selling Hickory, Conover or Newton , NC real estate in the dead of winter, when home sales are typically muted. However, let’s say hypothetically that home sales in your particular area happen to be unusually high. There could even be a low inventory of Hickory, NC homes available, even though it’s the off-season. That’s just an example, but the bottom line is this: an experienced agent will know whether or not it’s the right time to list a home based on personal experience and professional knowledge that is specific to your area.

While there are merits to listing on certain days, the truth is that there’s no perfect day for listing a home. You can list at the best time of year and even on the best day of the week, but you can’t control the macro- and microeconomic variables that drive the real estate market.

Before you rush to list your home on the first Friday of Spring, talk to realtors first. The Joan Killian Everett Team work the Catawba, Caldwell, Alexander and Burke County areas. Their portfolio of listings includes premier land plots as well as in Hickory, Conover, Newton, Bethlehem and Granite Falls. Contact The Joan Killian Everett Team for personalized insights into the timing — and all other details — of your home sale.