Redfin: Seven Metros Offer Their Best Buyer Deals Late in the Year, Early November in Riverside and Tampa and Mid-December in Detroit and Miami
Early November is typically the best time of year for homebuyers to score a bargain in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Riverside, California; and Tampa, Florida, while mid-December is the dealmaking sweet spot in Detroit, Michigan, and in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida, according to an analysis by Redfin and Home Economics released on October 27.
The analysis, originally completed in April, identifies when discounts off a home's original asking price, achieved through price drops and buyer-seller negotiations, typically approach their seasonal peak in each metro. Nationwide, discounts tend to peak in early fall, but in these seven metros the peak arrives later: homebuying slows near the holidays, leaving sellers with fewer buyers and more motivation to close before year-end, especially on listings that have sat for months.
In Florida, the window is tied to the snowbird calendar: retirees and seasonal residents typically arrive after the new year, so local buyers face less competition in November and December, and hurricane season, which runs through early fall, leaves lingering listings ripe for discounts once it passes. In Milwaukee and Detroit, a short cold-weather selling season pushes the slowdown, and seller concessions, into November and December respectively.
The seasonal advantage may be bigger than usual this year. Redfin says the U.S. market is firmly tilted toward buyers, with 63 percent more sellers than buyers, the biggest imbalance in its records dating back to 2013. Miami is one of the strongest buyer's markets in the nation, with more than twice as many sellers as buyers, and Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Riverside and Detroit are also buyer's markets; Milwaukee is one of just five seller's markets in the country.
Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan cautioned that late-year shopping is a tradeoff between selection and savings: new listings typically peak months before the best deals arrive, so buyers who wait may have fewer homes to choose from, and no one should buy just because the calendar says it is deal season, though buyers who find the right home may have room to negotiate.
Redfin analysis of the best time to get a deal
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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