Have you ever opened the paper or been online when you’ve seen a headline, “Best Time to Buy a Home” or “Best Time to Sell a House?” It piques your interest, especially if you’re in the market. In reality, we know that there’s really no such thing as a truly “best time” to buy a home. That’s why it’s important to read further. In reality, the best time to buy a home in Santa Fe is dependent on the area, neighborhood, current market activity, qualities of the home you want to buy, and your personal situation. These are all insights a good real estate agent, like Darlene Streit, can help you with.
Nevertheless, coming across the Business Insider piece headlined, “New research reveals the single best day of the year to buy a house,” it was simply too tempting to pass up. The best single day?!? Of course, you and I know there is not a “best single day,” but that wasn’t going to stop my curiosity. The answer?
Best Day to Buy a Home
The best day to buy a home is October 8.
This analysis came from past research dusted off from RealtyTrac’s review of more than 32,000,000 home and condo sales from throughout the United States. The data had been collected over a 15 year period, but when they put all that info into databases and did Einstein calculations, they came up with the magical date of October 8.
The way RealtyTrac determined the “best time to buy a home” was by comparing the sale price with the fair market value. For buyers, the best day was the one with the biggest average discount. October 8 was the “magical” day.
Now, the practical use of this information in Santa Fe is very limited for a couple of reasons.
- They really meant “best day to close” a home sale—leaving open the more tactical consideration, which would probably be the best day to make an offer.
- The residential market and resulting home sale results over the past 15 years have been so varied that generalizing from them could yield almost any answer.
- This was a nationwide survey. So even just the way weather here in Santa Fe differs from the national average would certainly affect the results. So would elements like the awards Santa Fe has won for “best place to live” and “best place to visit.”
The ideas written about for the best time to buy a home do have some practical value. They highlight the concept that for buyers, the late fall and winter months might be a pretty good time to buy a home in Santa Fe even when there are comparatively fewer properties on the market.
However, another thing to consider is that not everyone agrees that “October 8” is the best day to buy a home.
The Great Debate – Best Time to Buy
According to Zillow, the best time to buy a home depends on what you want. They recommend:
- Late Summer for most availability with least competition.
- November for a better price.
- April for the most options.
This 2019 news story, quoting Realtor says late September is the best time to buy: