Despite rising interest rates, fall is the best season to buy
for hopeful homebuyers when it comes to home prices, competition
and inventory.
SANTA
CLARA, Calif., Sept. 14,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As children return to school and
the weather begins to cool, the off-season is offering up
opportunities for hopeful homebuyers. Realtor.com analyzed the
numbers in its fourth annual Best Time to Buy Report and found
the best time to buy a home across the nation is the week of
Sept. 25 to Oct. 1. This early-fall
period will offer buyers a host of favorable factors, including
more housing listings, less competition, and lower prices.
Those who buy during this week can expect:
- More than 6% of homes with reduced prices
- Savings of more than $20,000, on
average, relative to the summer's peak price of $450,000
- Approximately 46% more homes to choose from vs. the average
week to date
- Extra time to make buying decisions, with homes expected to
stay on the market 15 days longer than during the summer's
peak
- Less competition, as demand during the best week to buy is
historically 26.9% lower than the yearly peak week and 8.5% lower
than the average week
"After several years of an overheated housing market, higher
mortgage rates are helping usher in more regular seasonal trends,
which have pros and cons for home shoppers," said Danielle Hale, chief economist,
Realtor.com®. "If you're flexible on your timing and can
budget for higher rates, early fall can be a great time to secure a
home, with a number of factors aligning to make it the best time of
the year both in terms of price and competition. This is especially
true for first-time buyers and others who are not trying to sell a
home at the same time as their purchase."
Since 2018, Realtor.com® has analyzed home
prices, inventory, listing views, and time on market, indicators
that tend to follow regular seasonal patterns, to determine the
best time to buy. Historically, the early fall has provided an
ideal mix of market conditions, including substantial inventory,
waning competition, below-peak prices, and a slowing purchase
pace.
The benefits of buying during the "best week" include:
Reduced prices: Historically, an average of 5.2% of
homes have price reductions during this period. As the market
begins to stabilize after a frenzied couple of years, more than 6%
of homes may have reduced prices during the best week in 2022.
Nationally, this could translate into roughly 48,000 homes
available at a decreased cost.
More listings: Although active listing inventory isn't
back to pre-pandemic levels, it has increased year over year and
year to date. There could be 780,000 listings during the best week,
46% more than this year's average to date.
Less competition: Fierce home buying competition has
softened as mortgage rates rise. Historically, demand (as measured
by views per property on Realtor.com®) during the best
week to buy has been 26.9% lower than its July peak and 8.5% lower
than the average week of the year.
More time to decide: Homes will stay on the market
longer, giving buyers some breathing room to make purchase
decisions. During the best time to buy, a typical home is expected
to remain on the market for two weeks more than during peak market
pace in May and one week more than the average time spent on
the market to date.
Methodology:
Realtor.com analyzed six supply and demand metrics at a national
and metropolitan level that follow seasonal patterns, using data
for 2018-2021 period (2020 data was omitted due to anomalies caused
by the pandemic). The metrics analyzed include: 1) listing prices,
2) inventory levels, 3) new "fresh" listings, 4) time on market, 5)
homebuyer demand (realtor.com views per property) and 6) price
reductions. Interest rates, which do not follow seasonal patterns,
were not included. To account for 2022 market conditions, estimates
reflect typical seasonal patterns layered on top of the most recent
2022 weekly data.
Each week of the year was scored from 0 to 100 based on the
number of active listings. A given week scored highly if it had
more listings compared to other weeks of the year. The other
metrics were scored in the same way, such that each week had six
different scores for active listings, new listings, listing prices,
days on market, price reductions and views per property. (In the
case of prices, lower prices score higher. Same with views per
property).
Each week was then ranked by the average of those scores. The
week with the highest composite score was considered the best time
to buy. This week represents a balanced view of market conditions
favorable for buyers.
About
Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an open real estate marketplace built
for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of
digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its
website and mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for
consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by
breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections,
and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For
professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner for
business growth, offering consumer connections and branding
solutions that help them succeed in today's on-demand world.
Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS,
NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more information,
visit Realtor.com®.
Media Contact
press@realtor.com
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SOURCE realtor.com