Planning a Move? Start With a Realistic Timeframe, Not a Hopeful One

When people plan a move, they almost always start with a hopeful timeframe instead of a realistic one. That's where the stress begins.

Here are the actual numbers. The median time to sell across the Wellington region is currently 56 days. The ten year average for the same month is 42. So homes are taking a full two weeks longer than they normally would, and there were 18 weeks of unsold stock sitting on the market, four weeks more than the same time last year. Buyers have choice, and that means the asking price matters more than it has in years.

There's an old line in real estate: when the price is right, that buyer magically appears. It sounds too simple, but we've watched it happen again and again. One of our own recent sales had zero bidders when it first went to market. We reset it to a realistic asking price, and four buyers turned up. It sold above asking.

A fair price with a small margin to negotiate beats a hopeful one that sits. And a home that sits gets stale. Buyers notice the days ticking over and start to wonder what's wrong, even when nothing is.

The fix is planning, not hoping. Order your LIM report early. That's the council's file on your property, and Wellington City Council has been taking around 28 working days, nearly three times the legal requirement. Get your home presented properly before it goes live, not after. And price it to attract buyers, not to test them.

We've sold over 500 Wellington homes across 17 years, from Ngaio and Wadestown to Grenada Village and Paparangi, and everywhere in between. The sellers who have the smoothest run are never the ones chasing a hopeful number on a hopeful timeline. They're the ones who got honest early.

Emotion out, result in.

Thinking about selling this spring? Find out where your home really sits.

Source: REINZ, Wellington region, June 2026.