When Is the Best Time to List Your Home in Plano?
Every seller asks this question. And there's no shortage of answers — spring, April, before school gets out, before the holidays. Most of that advice isn't wrong, exactly. It's just incomplete.
The Plano housing market generates enough transaction data to answer this question with precision rather than intuition. Our Plano Market Data Archive covers more than 10 years of single-family home sales compiled directly from NTREIS — the North Texas MLS — representing over 35,000 closed transactions across all Plano ZIP codes from 2015 through 2025.
What that data shows is more interesting than the conventional spring-is-best narrative — and more useful for a seller trying to make a real decision.
What Most Sources Are Looking At
When you search for the best time to sell in Plano, the data you'll find almost everywhere comes from closed sales — meaning it's sorted by when transactions completed, not when sellers listed. That's an important distinction we'll come back to. But let's start there, because it's the same data we're working from and the seasonal pattern it shows is real.
Across 11 years of Plano MLS data, averaging approximately 2,900 closed sales per year, the shape of the market by close month looks like this:
January is the slowest closing month of the year, averaging roughly 155 closings. Volume builds steadily through Q1, accelerates into Q2, and peaks in June at around 300 closings — nearly double January's pace. July and August sustain that strength before a gradual Q3-to-Q4 decline. December shows a modest uptick to around 220 closings, a pattern we'll explain later.
The days-on-market picture by close month tells a complementary story:
January closed sales carry the highest median DOM of any month — approximately 25 days. That number drops sharply in February to around 15 days, continues compressing through March to roughly 11, and reaches its floor in April and May at 8 to 9 days. DOM rises modestly through summer, then climbs steadily from September through December, finishing the year back near 20 days.
This is the pattern most "best time to sell" content is built around. And it's why the consensus answer is spring — specifically March through May — when closed sales are accelerating and DOM is at its lowest.
That answer isn't wrong. But it's answering a slightly different question than the one you're actually asking.
But Here's the Question You're Actually Asking
Closed-month data tells you when transactions finished. It doesn't tell you what happened at the moment that mattered most — when the home hit the market.
A home listed in October that sits for 60 days before going under contract closes in December. That closing shows up in the December data, carrying 60 days of DOM with it. The December DOM figure isn't really a December story. It's an October listing story.
So when we re-sort the same dataset by list month — the month the seller actually made the decision you're trying to make — the picture changes in ways that matter.
The floor is the same: March and April still produce the lowest median DOM, at 9 days each. But look at what happens at the other end of the calendar. January list-month DOM comes in at 11 days — not the outlier it appears to be in the close-month chart. Homes listed in January, on average, went under contract in 11 days. That's a better outcome than any month from June through December.
Let that sit for a moment. A home listed in January historically outperformed, on a days-on-market basis, every single month in the back half of the year.
The close-month data made January look like the worst time to be a seller. The list-month data shows it's actually a competitive month to list — not the best, but far from the worst.
This reframing isn't a technicality. It changes the practical advice.
Why DOM Moves the Way It Does — and What's Actually Driving It
The seasonal DOM pattern isn't a buyer demand story. It's an inventory story.
Buyers are present in the Plano market every month of the year. Relocation timelines, lease expirations, life events, and corporate transfers don't pause for seasons. What changes dramatically month to month isn't buyer presence — it's how much fresh inventory those buyers have to choose from.
Across 11 years of Plano MLS data, new listing volume follows a steep and consistent seasonal curve. January and February are the two lowest listing months of the year, averaging roughly 220 and 215 new listings respectively. Volume surges through spring, peaking in May and June at approximately 355 new listings each — more than 60% higher than January's pace. The market then gradually decelerates through the second half of the year, reaching its lowest point in December at around 145 new listings.
That curve is the engine behind everything else in this dataset.
Here's the mechanism: when new listing volume surges in spring, buyers face a larger pool of options simultaneously. They sort through that pool quickly, gravitating toward the freshest and most desirable listings first. The homes that contract immediately — the well-priced, well-presented ones — close with very low DOM. That's what's producing the March and April floor of 9 days in the list-month chart.
But not every spring listing sells immediately. The ones that don't get passed over in that initial sorting — overpriced, underprepared, or simply outcompeted — carry forward. They accumulate days on market. When they eventually sell, they close in summer and fall with elevated DOM figures. That's why the close-month chart shows DOM rising through Q3 even as the list-month chart shows it rising more moderately.
The side-by-side comparison makes this relationship visible. As new listing volume rises from January through the May-June peak, list-month DOM compresses. As new listing volume declines from July through December, list-month DOM rises steadily — from 13 days in July to 19 days in November. The two lines move in opposite directions in near-perfect sequence.
This is not a coincidence. It is the market's sorting mechanism in action.
Now consider what this means for a seller entering the market in a low-volume month. In December, roughly 145 new listings entered the Plano market on average — the quietest month of the year. The buyers active in December had fewer fresh options to evaluate. A well-prepared home entering that environment wasn't competing against a spring surge of 355 simultaneous alternatives. It was the freshest available option for every active buyer at that moment.
That's why December list-month DOM, at 17 days, is actually lower than September, October, and November — even though the close-month data makes those winter months look sluggish.
What the Pricing Data Confirms
Days on market measures speed. But sellers care about something else too — how close to asking price they actually closed. The list-month data answers that question as well.
Across 11 years of Plano transactions, the sold-to-original-list-price ratio by list month follows the same seasonal logic as DOM, but with a detail worth examining closely.
March and April are the only two months where the median seller received exactly their original asking price — a ratio of 100%. In practical terms, on a $550,000 home, that's the difference between closing at ask and closing at a discount. February comes in at 99.8%, and January at 99.3% — meaning the median January seller closed at roughly 99.3% of their original list price.
The weakest months for pricing outcomes are September through November, where the ratio sits between 97.8% and 98.2%. On that same $550,000 home, 97.8% represents approximately $12,100 left on the table relative to original asking price.
The full-year spread — from the 100% peak in March and April to the 97.8% trough in September — is roughly 2.2 percentage points. That's real money, but it's a narrower range than most sellers expect. It also means that a seller who lists in January with accurate pricing and strong presentation is operating at 99.3% — meaningfully closer to the spring peak than to the fall trough.
The spring market produces the highest listing failure rate of the year
Here is the data point that most "best time to list" content never mentions.
From 2022 through 2025, failed listings as a percentage of total new listings by month reveal a pattern that runs directly counter to the spring-is-best narrative. January, February, and March — the months most sources dismiss as slow — carry the lowest failure rates of the year at 19%, 19%, and 18% respectively. April rises to 24%. May climbs to 27%. June peaks at 32% — meaning nearly one in three homes listed in June did not sell.
July, August, and September all sit at 31%. The market doesn't become more forgiving again until Q4, when failure rates ease back toward the low-20s and December reaches 21%.
This doesn't mean spring is the wrong time to list. It means spring is the most competitive sorting environment of the year — and that sorting is indifferent to the calendar. It rewards preparation and accurate pricing. It penalizes everything else at a higher rate than any other season.
What This Means for Your Decision
The data points in one direction, but not toward the calendar.
Across 11 years of Plano MLS transactions, the best-performing homes share one characteristic that has nothing to do with the month they listed. They were priced accurately and presented well. They entered the market as the most compelling option available to active buyers at that moment. And active buyers, in Plano, are present every month of the year.
This chart filters the full dataset to only homes that went under contract within their first seven days on market — and it tells a story that overrides the seasonal narrative entirely. In every single month of the year, homes that sold within the first week closed above their original asking price. April leads at 102.3%. October trails at 100.2%. But there is no month where a fast-selling home failed to meet its asking price. Not January. Not November. Not December.
The seasonal variation in the aggregate sold-to-original-list ratio — the gap between spring's 100% and fall's 97.8% that appeared in the full dataset — is not a timing story. It is a DOM story. As days on market accumulate, buyer negotiating leverage increases. Price reductions follow. The aggregate ratio for a slower month falls not because the market is weaker in that month, but because more of that month's listings entered with pricing or presentation problems that the market promptly identified — and those homes sat, accumulated days, and eventually closed at a discount.
The calendar didn't cause that. The pricing did.
The spring market does offer a real structural advantage — peak new listing volume means peak buyer attention, and the homes that clear the initial sorting in March and April close faster and above asking more consistently than in any other month. That advantage is real and the data confirms it.
But that advantage accrues exclusively to the homes that are ready. The spring market doesn't lift all listings — it sorts them more aggressively than any other season. The same market conditions that produce 9-day median DOM and 102.3% sold-to-original-list for a well-prepared April listing also produced a 32% listing failure rate that same month. Spring rewards preparation. It does not reward timing alone.
A seller who needs more time to price accurately, prepare the home, and execute the presentation correctly should take that time. The 0-7 day chart is unambiguous: a well-prepared home listed in October that sells in its first week closes at 100.2% of original asking price. A well-prepared home listed in April that sells in its first week closes at 102.3%. That 2.1 percentage point difference is real — on a $600,000 home it represents roughly $12,600. But it is a fraction of what an overpriced or underprepared home loses when it sits for 45 days, takes a price reduction, and closes well below asking in any month.
The question to ask isn't "what month should I list?" It's "is this home ready to be the most compelling option available to buyers right now?" When the answer to that question is yes — that's the right time to list.
Thinking About Selling in Plano?
Seasonal patterns describe the market. They don't tell you where your home fits within it — or whether now, six months from now, or eighteen months from now is actually the right window for your situation.
If you want a clearer picture of your options before you've committed to anything, that's exactly the kind of conversation worth having early.
Plano Home Sellers: Common Questions About Timing
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Based on 11 years of NTREIS MLS data compiled in the Plano Market Data Archive, March and April produce the strongest outcomes by both speed and pricing. Homes listed in those months carried a median days on market of 9 days and a median sold-to-original-list price ratio of 100% — meaning the typical seller received their full asking price. May is close behind at 99.52% and a median DOM of 12 days. That said, the data shows that preparation and pricing accuracy matter more than calendar timing. A well-priced, well-presented home competes effectively in any month because it always enters as the freshest available option for active buyers at that moment.
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Because spring is the most competitive sorting environment of the year, not the most forgiving one. From 2022 through 2025, June had the highest listing failure rate of any month at 32% — meaning nearly one in three homes listed in June did not sell. May was 27% and July and August both hit 31%. The winter months most sellers want to avoid — January, February, and March — had the lowest failure rates of the year at 19%, 19%, and 18% respectively. The mechanism is straightforward: spring's surge in new listing volume means buyers have more options to sort through simultaneously. They contract on the best-priced and best-presented homes immediately. Everything else gets passed over — and in a high-volume month, getting passed over means competing against a continuous wave of fresh new alternatives.
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Yes — and it's one of the most important distinctions in this dataset. Most seasonal market data, including what you'll find on Zillow, Redfin, and HomeLight, is sorted by close month — when transactions finished. That data makes January look like the worst month in the market, with a median DOM of approximately 25 days for January closings. But when you re-sort the same dataset by list month — the decision a seller is actually making — January list-month DOM drops to 11 days. That's better than every month from June through December. The January close-month spike isn't a January listing story. It's homes listed in October and November carrying accumulated days on market into their winter closings. Sorting by list month gives sellers a more accurate and actionable picture of what their specific decision produces.
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The data supports it more than conventional wisdom suggests. Homes listed in January carry an 11-day median DOM and a 99.27% sold-to-original-list ratio — better DOM performance than any month from June through December, and pricing outcomes closer to the spring peak than to the fall trough. December list-month DOM comes in at 17 days, lower than September, October, and November despite those months being considered part of the active selling season. The reason is inventory dynamics: new listing volume in December averages roughly 145 homes — less than half of May and June's pace. A well-prepared home entering a low-inventory month faces fewer competing fresh listings and is the most compelling option available to every active buyer at that moment. Buyers — driven by relocations, lease expirations, and life events — are present year-round.
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They sell above their original asking price — in every single month of the year. Filtering the 11-year Plano MLS dataset to only homes that went under contract within their first seven days on market, the sold-to-original-list price ratio exceeds 100% in every month without exception. April leads at 102.3% and October trails at 100.2%, but no month falls below asking price for fast-selling homes. This finding reframes the seasonal pricing data entirely. The aggregate sold-to-original-list ratio declines in fall and winter not because those markets are weaker, but because more listings in those months accumulated days on market before selling — and accumulated days on market increases buyer negotiating leverage. The variable that determines pricing outcome isn't the month. It's how quickly the home sells. And how quickly a home sells is determined by pricing accuracy and presentation, not the calendar.
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Significantly and measurably. The Plano MLS data shows a direct relationship between days on market and sold-to-original-list price ratio. Homes selling within the first seven days close above asking price in every month of the year. As DOM accumulates, buyer negotiating leverage increases and price reductions follow. The aggregate sold-to-original-list ratio across all list months ranges from 100% in March and April to 97.84% in September — a spread of roughly 2.2 percentage points. On a $600,000 home that represents approximately $13,200. But that spread understates the real cost of extended DOM for individual listings, because price reductions compound — a home that takes two price cuts before selling may close significantly further from its original ask than the monthly median suggests. The practical implication is that accurate pricing at list is worth more than any seasonal timing advantage.
A Final Note on Using This Data
Seasonal patterns in the Plano market are real, consistent, and worth understanding. But they describe the market in aggregate — they don't determine the outcome of your specific listing. The homes that perform well in every month of this dataset aren't the ones that timed the calendar correctly. They're the ones that entered the market priced accurately, presented well, and ready to be the most compelling option available to active buyers at that moment.
That's the conclusion 11 years of Plano MLS data supports.
If you want to go deeper on any of the data referenced in this post, the resources below are a good starting point:
Data & Market Intelligence
Plano Market Data Archive — The full dataset behind this analysis, including historical monthly data back to 2015, weekly inventory snapshots, and the Plano Price Matrix by ZIP code
2025 Plano Annual Market Report — Full-year analysis of 2025 market performance across all Plano ZIP codes
2026 Plano Market Outlook — Forward-looking analysis of market conditions heading into 2026
If You're Thinking About Selling
What Buyers Are Actually Doing in Plano Right Now — Weekly inventory data showing current pending activity, new listings, and price reductions
Sell Your Home — How we approach pricing strategy, preparation, and timing for Plano sellers
All data in this post is sourced from NTREIS (North Texas Real Estate Information Systems) via direct broker-level MLS access and maintained in the Plano Market Data Archive by Matt Haistings, Haistings Real Estate Group. Data covers single-family residential sales in Plano city limits, 2015–2025. Failed listing percentage data covers 2022–2025. For citation format and methodology details, visit the Plano Market Data Source page.
