This Is The Best Month To Buy An NJ House: Report

NEW JERSEY — As the leaves fall, often so do home prices. But during that seasonal window from which homebuyers can benefit, one month in particular marks the best time to acquire a house in New Jersey, according to new analysis.

That would be February, according to ATTOM, a real estate data curator. During the shortest month of the year, New Jersey real estate falls 3.9 percent below market value — the greatest discount in any state during any month, the report says.

Nationally, ATTOM says the best month to buy is October, when homebuyers only deal with a 3.3 percent premium — as opposed to May, when premiums hit 10.5 percent. Demand typically declines in the autumn and winter, which makes sellers more willing to negotiate.

"Apparently the old adage 'Spring forward and Fall back' applies not only to setting your clocks, but to home prices as well," said Rick Sharga, ATTOM's executive vice president of market intelligence. "Seasonality has always had an impact on home prices, which tend to weaken in the fall and winter months when there’s less buying activity."

For the analysis, ATTOM looked at every calendar day from 2013-21 with at least 10,000 single-family home sales — every date (including leap day), except Jan. 1, July 4, Nov. 11 and Dec. 25. To calculate the premium or discount paid on a given day, ATTOM compared the median sales prices for homes with a purchasing closing on that day, with the median automated valuation model for those homes at the time of sale.

Nationally, the best days to buy are Nov. 28 (1.1 percent premium) and Jan. 9 (1.3 percent).

Families tend to buy larger, pricier homes during spring and summer, so they can move between school years, according to CNBC. This drives prices higher. But smaller, more-affordable homes tend to sell in the fall and winter, skewing prices downward.

The housing market soared throughout much of the pandemic, as work-from-home flexibility gave more people the chance to change their surroundings and take advantage of low interest rates. The average house price climbed from $374,500 in the second quarter of 2020 to $525,000 in this year's second quarter, Forbes reports.

But housing markets have cooled off in recent marks, with rising interest rates and economic uncertainty among the primary factors, according to Forbes.

Read ATTOM's full report.