Is There a "BEST" Time to Buy a Home?

Buyers

Mar 11

Buying a home is one of the largest financial decisions you’ll ever make so timing it perfectly maybe one of your top priorities.

We’ve all been told, “The best time to buy Real Estate was 20 years ago, the next best time is today”.

Let’s look at the facts. If you’re a buyer in the fortunate position of not having a deadline to buy a new home and you’re able to time the market a bit you may want to consider this. Historically speaking, late summer, early fall is the best time to buy a home. Inventory usually increases as summer comes to an end and there’s less competition out looking. So more to choose from and more price reductions.

However Real Estate is not that simple.

Trying to time the market can be dangerous. For example I know people who in 2016 when bidding wars started said “This isn’t sustainable, people are over-paying and the market will crash”. Well if they bought then and held on till now (early 2020), they likely would have made 25.99%* appreciation on that investment.

Real estate cycles are always unpredictable. We can look at historical data and predict the best we can but there’s no guarantees. Look at the Covid 19 pandemic. This put a huge damper on a lot of people's plans to Sell in the spring.

Additionally with each and every home sale the values tend to push a little bit upwards. This is especially true in the Southwestern part of Ontario. The price of a house in March versus the price of the same house in September of the same year could be quite different.

My Advice to my clients is usually this: If the right place comes up that you’ll be happy in for the next foreseeable future, let's pursue it and not worry about what month it is. At the end of the day you’ll look back and be proud that you did just that.

Want to chat more, or have additional questions? Feel free to reach me tpalubiski@shawrealtygroup.com.

**avg price in 2016 for single detached home - 432,923

**avg price in 2019 for single detached home - 585,005