House Hunting Seasons: Autumn Highs and Lows

House hunting is largely considered a seasonal activity where springtime is the best time to participate. After all, why not look for newer, shinier digs after being cooped up in your existing place all winter?

But what many people don’t realize is that autumn can also be the perfect time to buy – but it may depend on where you live. Instead of slowing down, many regions of the country buck the trend an experience high levels of activity in the fall.

A new report on the seasonality of house hunting reveals just where home buying is the hottest and coldest during this time of year.

Fall Slow Down

Activity in the home shopping space majorly slows in many warm and beach climates during the fall months. Case and point: Hawaii and Florida show a 10% dip below the national annual average in September and October. Perhaps cooler temperatures cause house hunters to stop thinking about warm weather locations?

In major metro regions, house-hunting activity during the fall drops the most in the South and Southwest portions of the United States. The Cape Coral/Fort Myers, Florida for example, dips 18% in September and October compared to the national average. Search activity plummets 12% in Austin, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. In Charleston, South Carolina hunting goes down 11%.

In addition, search activity slows in many warm weather vacation sports such as Punta Gorda, Naples/Marco Island, and Key West.

Bucking the Trend

There are several areas in the country where autumn is the busiest time of year for home searching. The most active of these regions are vacation areas near ski resorts and in mountain and forest areas.

The county of Lincoln, NM (which is close to winter resort Ski Apache), experiences 16% higher search activity during the fall when compared with the annual average. The area around Ellsworth, ME (known for the fun winter carnival) boast 13% higher house hunting activity in the fall compared to the rest of the year.

Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead, a ski region located east of Los Angeles, also has high number of house hunters in the fall, presumably preparing themselves for fun weekend days on the slopes and dinners by bustling fireplaces. In Summit County Fall is a great time to purchase. In fact in 2013 there were 434 closed transactions from October 1, to December 31, 113 – SFH, 225 Condos, 59 Townhomes, and 37 Duplexes. In 2014 from October 1 to October 31, there have been 208 properties closed and are currently 266 pending/under contract transactions. With numbers like these November and December and sure to be extremely active and we could see as much as 10% or more closings in 2014 over 2013.

Fall is a great time to purchase so call Anne Marie or Aly to set up a showing today at 970-468-2740.