The Best Time to Buy a Home

For some purchases, prices change depending on the time of the year. If you’re purchasing items to use outdoors during the warmer months, for example, they’re usually cheaper in the winter since fewer people are buying them. When you’re looking at vehicles, the general rule of thumb is to buy later in the month when sales associates are more desperate to make their quota. Does this hold true for homes as well? There is some interesting data that does suggest home prices are often better in certain months than others, but there are also a number of other factors you must take into consideration when buying a house.

First, let’s look at some data. Information taken from the Census, the Federal Reserve, and housing websites do show that final closing prices do tend to be lower in the winter than in the summer. In June, for example...