Why October 8 is the statistically best day for buying a house in Boston
An analysis of millions of home sale records over the past 15 years leads to this conclusion.
If you’re a buyer trying to save the most money on a home in the Boston area, October 8 might be the magic day to close the deal, according to a 15-year study of home sale trends nationwide.
To create the analysis, real estate information company RealtyTrac analyzed over 32 million sales of condos and single-family homes between 2000 and 2015 in 109 metro areas, looking for months and even days of the week where home buyers got the best deals.
For four major metros, including the Boston–Cambridge–Quincy region, October stood out as the most promising month. People who bought homes in October on average paid 2.6 percent less than what their home was estimated to be worth.
On October 8 specifically, homebuyers around Boston paid an average sales price 38 percent lower than the estimated full market value.
For those who have taken advantage of this trend, you can thank a convergence of factors including weather, school, and professional sports.
“It all comes down to supply and demand,’’ said RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist. The fall is a time with low demand because the market is less busy than in the spring and summer, but there’s often a carry over in supply from the summer months. People who were trying to sell in the summer and weren’t successful are more motivated and might drop their price. Since there are fewer buyers competing for those homes, they have an advantage and can often bargain for a good deal.
Throw in the temperature dropping and the school year starting, and even fewer people will feel motivated to start looking for a home, giving the remaining hangers-on the upper hand.
October also happens to be the only month where all four major professional sports are in season or pre-season, RealtyTrac points out. Shopping for a home could really get in the way of watching the Patriots play.
Neighborhoods where homes sellers got more money than they asked for in August:
Story continues after gallery.
The bad news for people currently in the market is that buyers who close on a home on October 8 probably put an offer down back in September sometime. But the goods news is that the rest of the top five best days for closing still lie ahead: November 26, December 31, October 22 and October 15.
What’s the worst month to buy a home?
April, which included three of the worst five days of the year for homebuyers. April 20, for example, saw homebuyers spending roughly 9.5 percent more than a home’s estimated market value.
“April is the flip side of October in my mind,’’ Blomquist said. “Because we just came out of winter, there’s not a lot of supply, and people haven’t started listing their homes in earnest. On the other hand, it’s also the time when buyers start looking around, so demand outstrips the supply and the advantage is the sellers.’’
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