Late summer is the Goldilocks season for buying a home.
During winter, the real estate market can get a little like cold porridge. It’s harder to predict open house weather, and there are fewer houses being shown. Gardens go dormant, and home sale activity chills. So inventory can be limited in the cold months of winter.
During spring, and through the early summer months, the market can get too hot! Spring brings out the buyers with pent-up demand. More buyer competition will always make real estate pricier.
And that’s why August and September could be… just right.
Look for the Sweet Spot
“If you’re looking for a sweet spot between peak season and winter,” according to Quicken Loans, “consider buying in August or September.”
Why is the best house buying season when summer gives way to autumn? By then, the market is just starting to cool off a bit. And while there are usually a good number of homes listed, there aren’t quite as many people competing for them as there are in the spring and summer months.
This gives the buyer a higher chance of negotiating successfully with sellers.
☛ Yes, negotiation is back. Lately, sellers have lowered their listing prices in a number of popular real estate markets. And (whew!) buyers are keeping important contingencies in their offers.
Before August, sellers are better positioned to command the highest prices. But from early August, into the autumn months, sellers in many markets are more willing to work with buyers. Families are especially eager to sell and resettle into their next homes before the start of the school year.
And those butterfly gardens… the goldenrod and asters start to bloom in late summer. It’s a beautiful time to imagine living in your new home.
Best Before Winter Rolls Around
Wintertime is can have relatively low inventories. For one thing, people have holiday planning on their minds. It’s not unusual to see sellers wait out the Thanksgiving to New Year months before listing their homes on the market.
In some areas of the country, winter is not the most pleasant time for shopping in any case. And the window of opportunity is short when you’re touring homes, trying to imagine the foliage and the sunshine. Neighbors are bundled up indoors. It’s hard to gauge the local activity and noise levels. Snow-covered roofs and grounds are more difficult to examine. In states without snow and ice, this won’t be a factor. Still, real estate and mortgage professionals may be distracted with winter family plans.
On the other hand, because fewer mortgages are sought in wintertime, they can receive quicker processing. Also on the bright side: Buyers can often get homes at the lowest prices in wintertime in most markets. Generally, wintertime offers fewer choices, but better chances to get a good deal. As Zillow® says: “The window between late fall and early winter is the best time for buyers on a budget.”
Spring Is the Seller’s Season
Sellers know people are itching to come out and see houses in the springtime. And many are prepared to make bids. So prices tend to be at their highest in this season. By April, the buyers are as active as they’ll be all year. Not the optimal time to be shopping for a house, if you have a choice!
If you wait for the springtime to buy a home, then, you’ll need to be nimble. Sure, you’ll have an array of homes for sale in many markets, but a lot of people will be out there looking for those same homes.
Real estate typically stays brisk throughout the summer. People like to move in summertime. Sellers with kids prefer it, as moving between school years is easiest. By the end of summer, they want to be relocated.
And this means getting deals is statistically more likely if you’re shopping for homes near the summer’s end.
Late Summer and Early Autumn: Just Right
From July through September, sellers are the most likely to lower their prices.
“August has the most price cuts, while inventory levels are still healthy,” Zillow says.
Additionally, Zillow says:
August is the final month in the time span where listings are most abundant nationwide. Peak inventory falls between June and August.
Similar sentiments have been spoken by REALTOR.com®:
Historically, the number of views per listing has cooled in the late summer / early fall and tends to improve for buyers from that point forward. Additionally, by mid-August, the number of sellers with actively listed homes increased… which means more options for buyers.
Clearly, this is an important tip for the buyer. It suggests that hopeful buyers who’ve been priced out earlier in the year might well be in luck as the summer days get shorter.
And there’s further hope for those who have managed to stay the course this year, even as mortgage rates have continued to rise. Some people are balking at these rates, and putting their home-buying plans on hold. This means there’s more to go around for the buyers who persist.
☛ With some homebuyers balking at rising mortgage rates, houses aren’t moving quite so fast these days. And sellers can’t call all the shots any more. Hopeful buyers should find this interesting.
The Takeaway
You’re likely to find more homes listed for sale in August than at any other time. Plus, buyer competition eases as summer winds down. So, even in markets that don’t have as much inventory, there are fewer buyers looking.
Zillow sums up the seasonal dynamic straightforwardly:
Late summer is the best season to buy a house if you want a shopping experience with enough inventory to find a home you love, while benefiting from sellers lowering prices before the fall. Therefore, the best month to buy a house is August.
So there we have it.
Stay aware that the housing inventory can start getting tight by late September. Many people plan to be through closing by then. And we are already in the midst of a housing shortage. Plan accordingly!
PS: Exceptions Prove the Rule
Each home buyer is unique. So is each real estate market. Some are constantly popular. Consider that well-managed condo property that’s more reasonably priced than all other homes in the area. In such places, competition and a tight inventory can be the norm in any season.
The truly “right” time to buy a house is when it makes sense in the buyer’s life. It’s when the buyer is ready to purchase a home to settle into for several years, so as to build up home equity. It’s when the conditions out there in the real estate world suit the buyer — not the other way around.
Supporting References
Hannah Jones for REALTOR.com®: The Best Time to List: The Week of April 10-16 (Mar. 14, 2022).
Home Buying Guides from Zillow.com®: When Is The Best Time to Buy a House?
Victoria Araj for Rocket Mortgage®: The Best Time of Year to Buy a House (Aug. 1, 2022).
Victoria Araj for Quicken Loans®: When Is The Best Time To Buy A House? A Complete Breakdown (Oct. 8, 2021).
And as linked.
Photo credits: Boris Pavlikovsky, via Pexels.