(NEXSTAR) — It turns out there’s not only best market times to buy a new house, there is apparently one specific week prospective homebuyers should look out for. Reator.com calls it “the very best time of the year” for buyers.
Mark it on your calendar: Sept. 25 through Oct. 1. Realtor says there are typically about 8.4% more homes for sale nationally during these dates — even better, they’re typically priced $20,000 lower than usual.
“The best time to purchase a home is the last week of September, because that’s historically when the market is most hospitable to buyers,” said Realtor.com economic data analyst Hannah Jones. “Typically, the early fall is when there are fewer buyers. There are also more homes on the market, and the housing market is generally calming down from the summer rush.”
Realtor says it used a number of criteria to determine the “best” week, including home list prices, the number of homes for sale and days homes stayed on the market. Data from 2018-19 and 2021 were used. Analysts skipped 2020 due to the unusual market conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
While 2020 was a great time for buyers, so far, 2022 has been a rough time to find a new home. A national streak of rising inflation through the spring and summer, in addition to decreased demand for homes, resulted in record home listing prices.
Realtor says the median list price for a home as of August 2022 was $435,000 — that’s about 14% higher than August 2021. In July, the median listing price was $449,000, which is 16.6% higher than last July, Realtor reports.
Back in June, Redfin reported the median sale price for a home was $428,400, an 11.2% increase since the same time last year. While summer prices may not look great for prospective buyers, Redfin market analyst Tim Ellis said June’s numbers were the smallest year-over-year increase “in nearly two years.”
Market cooling is also affirmed by Realtor economic data manager Sabrina Speianu and chief economist Danielle Hale. In an August report, the pair wrote: “August housing data reveals that listing prices decelerated for the third month in a row, as more sellers hit pause on listing homes and homes for sale spent more time on the market than last August. While fewer new listings are entering the market, overall inventory continues to grow, providing more choice to buyers who are still shopping for a home.”