The Best Time To Buy a House? Don't Overlook Winter.

Typically, the pace of selling and buying homes in Nashville slows down once we get deep into December. Part of it is that we’re all getting wrapped up in the holiday season, but another part is long-held assumptions: Winter isn’t the best time to buy a home (or sell a home), they say.

They’re wrong. The best time to buy or sell a home in Nashville really depends on you.

We all have a million different moving pieces in our lives that need to line up before we start househunting, or before we put home on the market. Many people, in Nashville and elsewhere, think spring is the right time to tackle a move. And spring’s great — the weather makes it a pleasant time to wander around the city if you’re looking to buy a home, and having everything in bloom tends to put your curb appeal at its best if you’re selling. For buyers, that general trend has led to some of the widest selections on the Middle Tennessee MLS.

But the busiest home-buying times have their drawbacks, too. Busy means peak competition, both for buyers and for sellers. And waiting just for waiting’s sake lends a certain amount of unpredictability. As we rolled toward 2020, home sales in Nashville have continued to rise, and interest rates remained low, which could lend to a continued increase in home prices. But as with the weather, predictions are always just that.

My personal/professional advice: If things aren’t lining up in your life to buy a new home in Nashville, or sell your existing home in Nashville, I wouldn’t advocate rushing it. But if you just feel like you’re supposed to wait until the spring, there are arguments against that sensibility. Just a few:

Competition is less frenzied in the winter

A plus for homebuyers in Nashville: The chance of that perfect listing getting snapped up in the first six hours of listing is lower than in the peak season, which makes for less hectic decision-making and a higher likelihood of happy results. Some real estate sites say that listing views are as much as 21 percent lower in December. That doesn’t thrill home sellers, necessarily, but if you’ve been frustratedly househunting in Nashville, this could be your time.

Home prices tend to be lower in the winter

You can dig up a dozen different studies that try to explain why trends move this way — supply and demand, different types of properties that tend to be listed in the winter, different types of buyers who look for homes in the winter — but it’s a longstanding truth. Studies have shown that summer price shifts can average between around 1 percent to almost 4 percent higher in summer than winter. When you’re talking about home prices, that percentage can mean a real difference.

Winter buyers and sellers tend to be motivated

In general, folks who embark on a home sale or purchase in the winter months are ready to get it done. Maybe it’s a desire to start the New Year in a new home, or their year-end bonus topped of the down-payment savings, but strong motivations abound with winter buyers and sellers. I’ve certainly noticed it over my 15-plus years in Nashville real estate, and plenty of other real estate professionals have picked up on it too.

Mortgage rates are still comparatively low

This isn’t an evergreen point, but it’s true now: We’re still looking at low average mortgage rates, in comparison to what homebuyers were dealing with, say, 10 or 15 years ago. We can’t know in any concrete way what this time next year will look like, and there’s bird-in-hand value to low mortgage rates.

Have questions or concerns about whether it’s the right time for you to buy a home in Nashville, or list your Nashville home for sale? I’m always happy to talk, and share my expertise.  Contact TJ Anderson Homes here.