Blog > Best Month to Sell a House in San Francisco: 4 Years of Sales, Month by Month
Best Month to Sell a House in San Francisco: 4 Years of Sales, Month by Month
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When do San Francisco homes sell best? We sorted the 18,028 San Francisco sales that closed from January 2022 through December 2025, as reported to the MLS with repeat records removed, by the month they closed. Our MLS records cover San Francisco fully only from 2022, so these figures pool all 2022–2025 sales by closing month, as the Best Month to Sell page does. May closings sold over asking most often: 62.0% of them went over, against 40.2% of January and December closings.
The short answer
- Most bidding: May closings (62.0% sold over asking, median sale-to-list 103.5%), then June (60.5%) and April (59.7%).
- Least bidding: January and December, tied at 40.2% over asking.
- Busiest month: May, with 10.4% of a typical year’s closings; the slowest is January (5.0%).
- Seasons: March–May closings averaged 60.0% over asking, September–November 53.4% and December–February 44.7%.
- Timing a listing: closing usually comes about a month after the accepted offer, and the home was on the market before that, so a May closing typically means an accepted offer in April, with the listing before that.
Next steps in San Francisco
- What’s my San Francisco home worth? Request an estimate, and ask us for the recent sales on your street.
- See San Francisco homes for sale, then use Save Search to get new listings by email.
- Book a strategy call with a Property Nerd.
Month by month
The share sold over asking and the median sale-to-list ratio pool every 2022–2025 sale that closed in the month; the share of a year’s sales is averaged across the years. The strongest month is in bold. There is no price-per-square-foot column: with only four years pooled, it would mostly show which homes happened to sell.
| Closing month | Sold over asking | Median sale-to-list | Share of year’s sales | Sales, 2022–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40.2% | 100.0% | 5.0% | 907 |
| February | 53.8% | 100.7% | 6.8% | 1,231 |
| March | 58.3% | 102.3% | 9.5% | 1,729 |
| April | 59.7% | 102.5% | 10.2% | 1,839 |
| May | 62.0% | 103.5% | 10.4% | 1,883 |
| June | 60.5% | 103.0% | 9.6% | 1,726 |
| July | 52.9% | 100.5% | 8.2% | 1,473 |
| August | 49.6% | 100.0% | 7.7% | 1,384 |
| September | 51.8% | 100.3% | 7.5% | 1,347 |
| October | 57.2% | 101.8% | 9.9% | 1,784 |
| November | 51.2% | 100.1% | 8.4% | 1,512 |
| December | 40.2% | 100.0% | 6.8% | 1,213 |
If you’re buying
The flip side: January closings went over asking least often (40.2%, tied with December). The catch is choice. January brings only 5.0% of a typical year’s closings, against 10.4% in May.
Reading it right
- Closing month isn’t listing month. The calendar is by closing date, which trails the offer by about a month.
- Pooled, not averaged year by year. A busy year weighs more in a pooled month than a slower one, and any one year can break the pattern.
- The mix changes. Different homes sell in different months, and the homes for sale and buyers in your price range at the time matter too.
- All home types. Houses, condos and townhomes are counted together.
- Not a forecast or the value of any one home.
How we counted
Closed sales reported to the MLS in San Francisco, January 2022 to December 2025: houses, condos and townhomes, with repeat records removed and sales under 50% or over 200% of list left out. The Best Month to Sell page covers San Francisco only from 2022, too few years to average year by year, so it pools all 2022–2025 sales for each month and marks the city “pooled”. Sales share is the share of each year’s sales that closed in that month, averaged across years with 60 or more sales.
Go deeper
Best Month to Sell shows this calendar for every city we cover. Before you list, the Prep Lab helps get the house ready, the Launch Lab plans how it goes on the market, and the Seller Playbook walks through the whole sale. For San Francisco, see where homes sell over asking, neighborhood by neighborhood; the San Francisco city guide links every guide.
Common questions
What is the best month to sell a house in San Francisco?
By closing month, May. Of all San Francisco sales from 2022 to 2025 that closed in May, 62.0% went over asking, the most of any month, against 40.2% in January (tied with December). Closing usually comes about a month after the accepted offer, so the listing goes up earlier.
When is the best time to buy a house in San Francisco?
If you want less competition, January: closings that month went over asking least often (40.2%). The trade-off is choice, since January brings only 5.0% of a typical year’s closings.
Do San Francisco homes sell for more in spring?
They draw more bidding: March–May closings went over asking 60.0% of the time, against 44.7% for December–February (each month’s 2022–2025 sales pooled, then averaged across the three months). Part of the gap is which homes sell in each season, not only demand.
The San Francisco data series: neighborhoods ranked by price per sq ft · where homes sell over asking · condos and townhomes · house prices by bedrooms · houses under $1.5M · houses at $3.5M and up · the most expensive streets · houses by neighborhood · the most expensive streets from San Francisco to San Jose
Planning a sale in San Francisco?
A Property Nerd can show what homes like yours have sold for, month by month, and build your prep and launch around the season. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.