If there is a time when real estate ever goes “on sale,” January may be it. A new study from LendingTree suggests home buyers could save an average of $23,000 by purchasing in January rather than waiting until May on a 1,500-square-foot home.
“That’s a significant difference,” says Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief consumer finance analyst. “That can shave tens of thousands off the cost of the home, making something affordable that might not have been otherwise.”
While winter typically brings fewer listings, buyers often face less competition, Schulz adds. That matters, he says, because “you might also find that sellers are more eager to bargain during those off-peak times.”
Another bonus this winter, in particular: Mortgage rates have been falling. The 30-year fixed-rate averaged 6.16% last week, translating to about $250 in monthly savings on a $450,000 mortgage compared with early 2025, when rates hovered at 7%.
Where Buyers May Find the Biggest Difference in Prices
The LendingTree analysis, crunching 2024 housing data, found that January and February tended to offer the lowest overall median price per square foot whereas the spring and summer months—April, May, June and July—were the most expensive. That fits with the traditional home sales season, where sales tend to be more active in the warmer months.
LendingTree’s analysis found the biggest gaps between the least and most expensive months occurred in the following states:
- Hawaii: 25.7% (December’s lowest point compared to March’s highest)
- Vermont: 22.3% (between its lowest point in February and highest in June)
- Illinois: 21.4% (between its lowest point in February and highest in August)
Buyers Find More Negotiating Power
Real estate agents say sellers appear more willing to negotiate this winter than in recent years.
“We are seeing buyers able to get better deals, maybe some buyer incentives, because it’s considered off-season,” says Christine Belin, a real estate pro with Coldwell Banker Pacesetter Steel in Corpus Christi, Texas. In her market, she says sellers of existing homes are competing against new construction incentives, like complimentary upgrades and mortgage rate buydowns. That is prompting a need for resale sellers to be more flexible to win buyers’ attention.
“On the resale properties, sellers who are ready to move are offering things like paying closing costs,” Belin says. “They’re a little more negotiable on what they’re willing to leave with the property, too. Before they’d take the washer and dryer or fridge; now more [sellers] are willing to leave them behind. They’re willing to give in a little bit more to get that contract … and that’s a sweeter deal for buyers who a few years ago maybe felt like it was impossible.”
In the winter, there’s always less inventory and less demand, adds Patrick Roach, president and co-founder of Southwestern Real Estate in Wheaton, Ill., and the host of the “Open House with Pat Roach” podcast. “Sometimes when you hear that, it sounds like two negatives,” he says. “But if you’re a buyer … this could be a breath of fresh air.”
Roach says his recent clients were able to negotiate prices below list price—something rarely seen in his suburban Chicago market in recent years.
“They’ve been able to have the negotiations bent to their benefit slightly because the sellers are getting more serious,” Roach says. “They’re not selling just because ‘I thought this would be a good time of year to sell.’ They need to sell. That means if buyers keep their eyes on the market, they can spot some potential awesome opportunities.”
Roach calls winter a strong season for both buyers and sellers. “It’s true [that] transactional volume slows, but that doesn’t mean that the prices are going to fall through the floor,” he says. “If you are a seller, the good news is you’re not getting just the casual looky-loos that just want to look at some houses. You tend to get the people who are motivated. They may be in situations where they actually have to find a place soon.”
