Nov 1, 2025
If you're thinking about buying a new home, there’s a decent chance you’re planning to make the purchase in the summer. After all, summer is the most popular time to buy a home in the U.S.
In fact, LendingTree found that Americans buy 1.4 times more homes in the summer than they do in the winter. From 2015 to 2024, 29.1% of all residential property sales took place during the summer months, with spring (25.4%), fall (25.2%) and winter (20.2%) rounding out the four seasons (1).
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Buying in the summer make sense, since it's a little more pleasant to go out and look at properties when you aren't battling with snow and ice. A summer purchase also means you don't have to uproot your kids in the middle of a school year if you're a parent.
Unfortunately, summer home buyers pay a premium for that convenience, with homes tending to sell at higher prices from the months of June to August. If buyers can wait until the winter, they have the potential to save thousands on their purchase.
Strategic timing could mean big savings
According to LendingTree, the median price per square foot is the highest in May at $194.20. April, June and July also have median prices per square foot above $190.
By contrast, January has the lowest median price per square foot at $178.60, which is a huge difference. Let's say, for example, that you're planning to buy a 2,000-square-foot house. Purchasing that house in May would cost you $388,400, while buying in January could cost $357,200. This means you could save $31,200 by purchasing the house in January.
Now, you don't have to buy in January to enjoy a bargain. February is the second-cheapest month with a median price per square foot of $183.70. Prices start to increase in March, hitting a median price of $190.50 per square foot in April and staying above the $190 mark until August.
However, buying during the winter months could mean that your children may have to change schools in the middle of the school year. You'll also have fewer homes to choose from since most sellers don't list their houses during the winter months.
The Ohio Department of Commerce warns that issues with a listed house could be hidden if snow and ice make some areas inaccessible to inspectors (2). For example, problems with the roof could go unnoticed and may be expensive to fix.
Still, you may decide that the savings are worth giving up those summer buying benefits of more accessible properties, more homes for sale and an easier school transition.
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How buyers and sellers can leverage the seasons
The U.S. housing market hasn't been great lately, with sales in a slump since 2022 when mortgage rates started surging from historic lows. In fact, sales of existing homes in 2024 fell to a near 30-year low (3).
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However, things are starting to turn around as mortgage rates have come down. Home sales began to accelerate in the fall, with existing home sales rising 1.5% from August to September. This is the fastest pace of sales since February, and the total sales from this September reflect an impressive 4.1% increase year over year (4).
The national median sales price was also up in September, rising 2.1% from the year prior to $415,200. That makes this September the 27th month in a row that there's been a year-over-year increase in home prices.
If the housing market continues to heat up due to falling mortgage rates, it may become important for homebuyers to be strategic with their timing. When prices are climbing, potential buyers may be willing to accept the lower inventory and the other inconveniences of moving in the winter in order to get a better deal.
Sellers should also know that because fewer people tend to buy in the winter, this may not be the right time to list if they want to maximize their profits. An experienced real estate agent can provide insight into the impact of selling in the winter, but even in locations where the weather is decent year round, there are still likely to be many buyers who won't want to move in the middle of a school year.
Of course, not everyone can time their purchase or sale perfectly. But if those in the housing market have options, buyers should consider a winter purchase while sellers may want to list their homes in April or May in order to get the most out of the sale.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
LendingTree (1); Ohio Department of Commerce (2); The Associated Press (3); ABC News (4)
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Christy Bieber has 15 years of experience as a personal finance and legal writer. She has written for many publications including Forbes, Kilplinger, CNN, WSJ, Credit Karma, Insurify and more.
