Buying Boston Homes in the Winter, Here is How to Get the Lowest Prices on Boston Real Estate

Using this timing can work with buying real estate in any large metro area in cold winter cities.

All 28 downtown Boston neighborhoods as well as Boston Suburb listings often go begging for buyers from November 1st to January 15th. In good years and bad, these 75 days are always a buyer's market in the Boston area, at least since the early 90's.

This cycle is pretty obvious, and very playable, the average list price from June 1st 2008 to August 15th 2008 was $374 per sq ft in Boston while from November 1st 2008 to January 1st 2009 the average list price was only $279 per sq. ft. That's 34 percent less! This is more than usual as the economy took a hit in that same time frame. So lets go back to the boom in 2005 and pull the same numbers. Between May 2005 and August 2005 the average price per sq. ft. listed for Boston Real Estate was $454 per sq ft while the 75 days between November 2005 and January 15th 2006 it was $406 per sq. ft.,so even in a strongly rising market there is usually at least 10 percent that is very much yours if you buy in the winter.

So where are the Boston Real Estate buyers in November and December?

At the risk of sounding glib, they all either paid too much in the summer or are waiting to pay too much next summer!

Why is it so hard to buy real estate in the winter?

It feels uncomfortable for many because buying a home in the winter, goes against the grain psychologically and emotionally. This is especially true in cold winter cities like Boston, Chicago and New York City. The instinct is to hunker down and stay put for the winter. Its going to get cold and there will be large heating bills and life gets harder. That probably goes back through the millennia. Who wants to change their cave in a snowstorm?

Part of being a good buyer in markets like Boston area real estate is to be willing to buy when no one else wants to.

If you have been monitoring Boston Area MLS Listings, you will notice a drop in inventory from June levels to November levels and also a drop in prices. Bottom line is, if you can find the layout you want in the neighborhood you like, the lowest prices per square foot are achieved in November and December each and every year.

Finding the right layout is the biggest problem of course with the smaller selection, but if the number of properties is down by 50 percent during this time the available pool of eligible buyers seems to go down 95 percent! I say "seems to" as I can't quantify it so the stat is anecdotal, something Buyers Agents usually avoid, but I'm sure you get the point. If you can find a layout that can work for you, you should be able to buy it for 20 percent less money than in the spring/summer months.

So why doesn't everyone buy in the autumn/winter months?

Buyers are human and its surprisingly hard to go against the grain and buy a home in the middle of the cold holiday season. It can feel awkward even if you've been planning to do so all year. When November comes you find yourself distracted by the holidays and wanting to hunker down yourself.

Its not as easy as it sounds strictly from a psychological and emotional perspective. Knowing you can buy cheaper is one thing, executing the purchase is another. It may take some discipline to go against your own 10,000 year old instincts to stay in your cave when its cold, but if you can do it your odds are better for buying some Boston area real estate at a discount.