This is the best time to buy a house

Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com, explains why the falls is the best time to buy a house.

Transcript

00:00There's a new report from Realtor.com revealing that September 29th through October 5th will

00:06be the best week to buy a home in 2024.

00:10Why is this fall the best time to buy?

00:13Yeah, our research points to this week being the best time to buy because we see buyer

00:18demand dip in the housing market, and that creates an opportunity for buyers who are

00:23flexible with their timelines, and especially those who don't need to sell, like first-time

00:28home buyers.

00:29They can take advantage of the fact that we have lower market demand, about 30% compared

00:34to the peak season, and that tends to usher in softer prices, which are expected to drop

00:39by about $14,000 compared to the peak season, and longer time on market.

00:44So buyers will have more time to make decisions, which is a nice advantage for first-time buyers,

00:49for those who aren't as familiar with the process, gives them more time to make what

00:54is for many the biggest decision in their purchasing life.

00:58So if now is the best time to buy, is there a bad time to buy a home, and why is timing

01:05so important in the housing market?

01:08The housing market has a lot of regular seasonal patterns.

01:11So fall is this time where we see a lot of buyers pull back, and they're not as active

01:16in the housing market, which creates these softer market conditions that we see that

01:20lead to an opportunity for buyers who are flexible and can get into the housing market.

01:25Spring is a time that is more advantageous for sellers because they have a lot of buyers

01:29that are in the housing market early in spring, and sellers tend to come to the market a little

01:34bit later in spring.

01:36So spring can be very competitive for home shoppers and is a little bit more challenging,

01:41but it does have some advantages.

01:43There are generally more options available, and for those who are trying to buy and sell

01:47at the same time, there's a lot more activity that can make it easier to accomplish both

01:51of those goals in a short timeframe.

01:53So fall is the best time to buy, especially for those who are focused only on buying and

01:57don't have any selling to consider, and the fact that we're seeing mortgage rates ease

02:02over the last few weeks, thanks to the Fed's big rate cut, is just icing on the cake, a

02:08nice bonus to improve affordability conditions as we head into this best time to buy.