At this time of year, we’re all busy shopping for the holidays, buying gifts for our loved ones, and going out to festive events. But if you’re a potential homebuyer right now, how about giving yourself the gift of a huge discount on your next home?
Here at HouseSigma, with the help of our internal AI tool, we analyzed the past decade of median home sale prices in Metro Vancouver, across each month of the year. The tool then ranked the months that were historically the most expensive months to buy a property, down to which were the cheapest.
We found that January is consistently, in both median price and absolute terms, the most affordable month to buy a new home. In fact, January median sale prices are generally about 6% lower than those seen in the historically most expensive months of April to June. And in recent years, sale prices have peaked in the summer to around 10% more than January prices!
All of which means you should be getting out there to find your new home right now, in the month of December, given it can take a number of weeks to find a place and sign the deal. And if it takes you a little longer than that to pin down the perfect pad, don’t worry! We found that February is the second-cheapest month of the year to close your sale.
The winter buying slump
Why is this the case? For one thing, when we’re all caught up in seasonal festivities, it can be tough to find time to do any house hunting, and buyers often put this on hold for the New Year or even early spring. This means that in December there’s a smaller buyer pool, which in turn means sellers often have to accept a lower price if they want to close the sale in January.
Another reason buyers don’t turn out in droves to open houses and viewings can be the weather – who wants to spend rainy, cold, or snowy weekends traipsing around open houses? And then there’s the fact that many homes – especially those with yards or outdoor space – don’t show as well when it’s dark and wet outside.
Jeremy Bator, a leading HouseSigma agent in BC’s Lower Mainland, agrees that buyers should jump on the opportunity to home hunt while other buyers are distracted. He said, “At this time of year, while everyone else is untangling Christmas lights, you could be scooping up a killer deal from a desperate seller. The competition’s on vacation, bidding wars are extinct, and the best part? You beat the spring rush, move in early, and kick off the new year already winning.”
Today’s buyer-favoured markets
All this is especially true this year, given the strong buyers’ markets that we are seeing across most of Canada – there’s even more of a chance of you getting a steal than usual.
Bator added, “Because it’s a strong buyer’s market in the Lower Mainland, listing inventory is actually high right now, making it a great time to house hunt.”
So, while it’s likely you’re busy with festive shopping and seasonal socials at the moment, don’t miss out on the great opportunity of getting a great price on a home. Happy holiday house hunting!
Want to find a new home this holiday season? Go to our home page to search for home listings in your area, and filter for price, bedrooms, and many other attributes.