Christmas Miracle? The Surprising Reason Homebuyers Can Score a Deal Before Ringing In the New Year

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If buying a home is on your holiday wish list, Santa might actually deliver this year (with some effort on your end, of course). Why? Because the crazy bidding wars and sky-high home prices that buyers battled through the spring and summer are, at long last, slowing down.

“Through the end of the calendar year, buyers will get a break,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist of Realtor.com®. “I mean this in the sense that buyers are likely to have more time to make decisions, less competition, and a bit more negotiating power with sellers.”

“There will be certainly far less intense multiple-offer competition this winter compared to spring and summer,” adds Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors®.

Granted, the holiday season is traditionally a slow time for sellers when they’re more eager to play ball with any buyers who are willing to brave the cold and walk through their door. But there’s a lot more leaning in buyers’ favor these days than just that. Here’s some news that should give you hope that, if you’re willing to forgo a few holiday cocktails to tour a few homes, your hard work may finally pay off.

“Home prices will still be high, but price growth has slowed,” Hale says. “We’re starting to see more sellers make price adjustments. This will give homebuyers a chance to navigate this market.”

“There will be some room for price negotiation,” concurs Yun. By Erica Sweeney