How slow is Aug/Sept in real estate sales?

How many buyers are out there in August and September? When does it really slow down (Oct or Nov)?

Re: How slow is Aug/Sept in real estate sales?

There are always buyers out there looking for homes. The issue is whether or not the property is something that current buyers will find attractive and a worthy investment of their money. We have been looking for what feels like forever and have seen really good well kept homes are in contract within a week whereas homes that have been neglected sit and wind up going through huge price drops before getting sold.

Re: How slow is Aug/Sept in real estate sales?

I agree that there are ALWAYS buyers looking for homes. Real estate is not quite as seasonal as most people think.

There is a bit of a slow down in late summer through Labor Day, but this is more for sellers. Many sellers will wait to put their house on the market until after Labor Day. Same with the holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas) and winter -- some sellers prefer to wait until spring to list. Spring and early fall (September-October) tend to be the busiest LISTING seasons, when a lot of homes come on the market.

However, buyers tend to look all year long -- at least serious lookers. As a seller, you may get more open house traffic in spring and summer because some casual lookers will be out there, almost as something to do on a nice day. But the buyers who are out looking over labor day weekend or when there's snow on the ground are the buyers that are ready, willing, and able to buy. I just met with new clients yesterday who want to start looking seriously and hope to be in a house by the time their lease is up in February. So they are going to be looking no matter what month it is.

I always tell sellers that they don't want to rely on the month or the season to list. If anything, it benefits a seller to list at a time that's typically considered "less busy" because there is less competition (fewer homes on the market for buyers to choose from) and more serious buyers out there. To me, it's the quality of the showings, not the quantity. So I'd rather have 10 serious buyers look at the house and get one (or several) good offers, versus having 50 people look at the house and no serious interest.

How slow is Aug/Sept in real estate sales?

From a friend who is a agent that i work with, quality homes are being scoped up within the first few days of being put up for sale. There are more people buying then houses available for quality homes. She lost a number of homes to buy and even her house she sold, it was 2 offers made pretty much on day 1 and sold really fast. She had to move to temp apt until hour new house closes. She didn't think it would be hard to buy as she was outbid pretty much on every house because people were desperate to get anything. At the end, she finally found something put it will be 3 months in an apartment.

Re: How slow is Aug/Sept in real estate sales?

the house i bought was put on the market in June but listed too high. by the time they dropped the price (twice) in october I saw it and snatched it up. we closed in december. there are always people looking who really want a house.