Here's where Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays mean better deals for homebuyers

SALT LAKE CITY — Planning on searching for a new home at the same time you're preparing to celebrate the upcoming holiday season?

In a few parts of the country, the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Christmas and other end-of-year holidays are the best times to get deals on houses for sale, according to the online real estate brokerage Redfin.

Just seven U.S. cities and surrounding metropolitan areas made Redfin's list of the nicest pricing coming closer to the close of the year. For the rest of the country, fall is typically the sweet spot for buyers looking to pay less.

But deals don't peak until early November in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Riverside, California; and Tampa, Florida, while house hunters have to wait until mid-December to catch the best prices in Detroit and three Florida metro areas, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach.

Multiple Florida locations are on the list at least partly due to the Sunshine State's weather. Fall sales are often interrupted by hurricane season, while "snowbirds" looking for a place to escape colder temperatures further north usually don't start showing up until after the new year.

"There's a tradeoff to shopping for a home late in the year," Redfin senior economist Asad Khan said in a recent post. "Buyers may have fewer fresh listings to choose from, but they also face less competition, and many sellers are ready to make a deal."

Even though it may be easier at year's end to push for a better price and concessions, Khan cautioned that no one should "purchase a home just because the calendar says it's a good time for deals, but those who find the right home may have room to negotiate."

Redfin said the seasonal advantage may be stronger than ever this year, given that most of the housing markets in the country favor buyers, thanks to high prices and a rise in mortgage rates fueled by the war launched nearly 10 months ago against Iran.

The analysis by Redfin and Home Economics, a newsletter about the U.S. housing market, examined seasonal indexes for new listings, fresh inventory and average discounts in the nation's most populous metro areas.

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