Best Home Buys Occur With Offers Made In November And December.

By Troy Corman, t2realestate.com

I often get the question, "is now a good time to buy?" Well, see for yourself. The chart below lists the historic monthly average sales prices and median sales prices on Dallas homes going back to 1990. As you can see, most of the lowest numbers occur in January, meaning buyers put in offers in November and December - since it normally takes about 30-45 days to close a home purchase from the executed contract date.

There are usually less buyers in the market during the last 2 months of the year due to holidays, vacations and travel. Often, sellers are happy to get a deal done before the end of the year so that they can start the New Year without the hassle. Ditto for bank-owned, foreclosed properties.

To reduce the likelihood and the accompanying heartache of another buyer scooping up "your" home, shop for homes while the competition is shopping in the malls.

As you can see in the chart below, those ready to pull the trigger during November and December, on average, end up with the best deals of the year.

Date	Sales	Dollar Volume	Average Price	Median Price	Total Listings	Months Inventory
Notes: Residential data includes single-family, townhouses and condominiums. "-" represents no or underreported data. Source: MetroTex Association or Realtors and Real Estate Center.
1990-Jan	1,172	132,121,830	112,700	89,700	18,067	13.3
Feb	1,035	116,163,060	112,200	86,200	18,705	13.8
Mar	1,732	189,971,370	109,700	86,000	19,266	13.9
Apr	1,551	173,731,240	112,000	84,700	19,729	14.0
May	1,598	194,108,800	121,500	85,800	19,691	13.8
Jun	1,619	189,209,290	116,900	95,800	22,862	16.2
Jul	1,823	208,286,000	114,300	87,400	19,593	13.6
Aug	1,731	201,499,390	116,400	86,700	18,585	12.7
Sep	1,356	151,858,440	112,000	87,500	22,057	15.3
Oct	1,303	132,086,050	101,400	80,700	21,454	14.9
Nov	1,303	132,086,050	101,400	80,700	21,454	14.7
Dec	1,305	132,074,440	101,200	79,800	19,291	13.2
1991-Jan	1,103	117,769,010	106,800	80,500	20,356	14.0
Feb	1,070	105,758,160	98,800	89,700	21,033	14.4
Mar	1,201	137,022,090	114,100	83,200	21,887	15.5
Apr	1,428	175,272,720	122,700	84,500	21,567	15.4
May	1,779	221,041,000	124,300	87,800	21,756	15.3
Jun	1,871	212,358,500	113,500	86,900	22,210	15.4
Jul	1,582	194,190,500	122,800	90,000	22,132	15.6
Aug	1,757	194,904,010	110,900	87,200	17,493	12.3
Sep	1,444	168,731,400	116,800	84,500	17,212	12.0
Oct	1,292	140,453,320	108,700	80,500	18,124	12.7
Nov	1,184	136,586,240	115,400	84,200	16,296	11.5
Dec	1,147	135,300,120	118,000	91,200	15,674	11.2
1992-Jan	965	113,059,400	117,200	87,500	16,641	11.9
Feb	1,231	138,290,540	112,300	87,000	17,033	12.1
Mar	1,812	204,991,560	113,100	89,500	17,629	12.1
Apr	1,833	226,100,550	123,400	91,200	18,070	12.1
May	1,821	229,628,100	126,100	88,700	18,114	12.1
Jun	1,950	227,487,000	116,700	88,200	18,023	12.0
Jul	1,878	217,209,480	115,700	90,000	17,942	11.8
Aug	1,757	204,444,520	116,400	92,500	17,612	11.5
Sep	1,632	183,273,600	112,300	86,800	17,209	11.2
Oct	1,699	196,064,600	115,400	86,600	16,573	10.5
Nov	1,540	168,429,800	109,400	88,300	15,744	9.8
Dec	1,624	187,328,400	115,400	88,400	13,937	8.5
1993-Jan	1,132	124,735,080	110,200	86,200	14,627	8.8
Feb	1,218	138,084,660	113,400	85,100	15,635	9.4
Mar	1,698	190,006,200	111,900	88,500	16,288	9.9
Apr	1,736	217,069,440	125,000	90,800	16,915	10.3
May	1,944	229,003,200	117,800	92,800	17,098	10.4
Jun	2,269	293,835,500	129,500	95,500	16,993	10.1
Jul	2,156	281,228,640	130,400	95,600	16,692	9.8
Aug	2,128	252,827,680	118,800	92,200	16,057	9.3
Sep	1,883	227,861,830	121,000	91,300	15,457	8.8
Oct	1,754	217,460,920	124,000	93,500	15,031	8.6
Nov	1,726	208,362,720	120,700	92,600	14,331	8.1
Dec	1,762	206,347,820	117,100	92,400	13,058	7.3
1994-Jan	1,206	144,161,210	119,500	88,700	14,077	7.9
Feb	1,371	156,996,760	114,500	93,200	14,784	8.2
Mar	2,229	279,272,170	125,300	94,000	15,241	8.3
Apr	2,246	286,221,790	127,400	94,200	15,724	8.3
May	2,343	286,085,280	122,100	95,000	15,740	8.2
Jun	2,315	276,034,580	119,200	93,100	15,724	8.2
Jul	2,263	278,876,580	123,200	93,700	15,694	8.1
Aug	2,306	286,437,520	124,200	94,700	15,378	7.9
Sep	1,907	215,250,000	112,900	89,900	14,914	7.6
Oct	1,738	204,401,070	117,600	90,300	14,633	7.5
Nov	1,580	186,251,760	117,900	88,300	14,062	7.3
Dec	1,495	182,133,000	121,800	93,900	12,880	6.7
1995-Jan	1,070	132,669,000	124,000	86,500	13,921	7.3
Feb	1,271	154,054,000	121,200	90,900	14,493	7.6
Mar	1,691	211,271,849	124,900	88,800	15,092	8.1
Apr	1,324	159,879,000	120,800	92,100	15,747	8.9
May	2,535	314,981,707	124,300	92,000	16,172	9.0
Jun	2,824	349,839,675	123,900	98,700	15,695	8.6
Jul	2,660	340,956,633	128,200	101,000	15,464	8.3
Aug	2,971	370,681,254	124,800	97,700	15,247	7.9
Sep	2,289	282,251,712	123,300	95,200	14,783	7.6
Oct	2,248	275,173,583	122,400	93,500	14,685	7.4
Nov	2,035	253,731,196	124,700	95,800	14,596	7.2
Dec	2,050	254,516,978	124,200	95,400	12,970	6.2
1996-Jan	1,581	201,777,288	127,600	96,200	14,504	6.8
Feb	2,009	246,001,837	122,400	97,100	15,006	6.9
Mar	2,519	318,118,194	126,300	100,900	15,557	6.9
Apr	2,812	360,023,181	128,000	99,900	15,878	6.7
May	3,088	418,880,800	135,600	104,100	15,347	6.3
Jun	2,908	396,271,048	136,300	105,200	16,235	6.7
Jul	3,108	428,965,679	138,000	104,100	15,713	6.4
Aug	2,989	401,275,111	134,300	101,200	15,293	6.2
Sep	2,419	314,182,427	129,900	100,300	15,155	6.1
Oct	2,310	303,836,030	131,500	102,200	14,935	6.0
Nov	2,181	281,587,732	129,100	101,700	14,791	5.9
Dec	2,204	284,864,817	129,200	101,000	12,950	5.2
1997-Jan	1,689	217,018,295	128,500	95,900	13,893	5.5
Feb	2,130	274,369,933	128,800	99,200	13,551	5.4
Mar	2,643	359,987,238	136,200	104,200	14,297	5.6
Apr	2,783	389,254,579	139,900	105,300	14,678	5.8
May	3,239	458,474,482	141,500	108,100	14,923	5.9
Jun	3,282	463,200,685	141,100	108,800	15,094	5.8
Jul	3,591	501,922,413	139,800	110,600	14,876	5.7
Aug	3,298	468,218,334	142,000	109,000	14,430	5.5
Sep	2,961	405,949,601	137,100	109,100	13,997	5.2
Oct	3,013	421,352,841	139,800	108,600	13,296	4.8
Nov	2,433	333,893,261	137,200	106,900	12,643	4.6
Dec	2,822	407,340,189	144,300	113,900	11,795	4.2
1998-Jan	2,103	285,738,151	135,900	108,300	12,102	4.2
Feb	2,567	364,929,507	142,200	110,700	12,148	4.2
Mar	3,427	490,598,025	143,200	112,900	12,385	4.2
Apr	3,549	509,483,646	143,600	113,300	12,542	4.1
May	3,847	603,945,730	157,000	121,300	12,824	4.2
Jun	4,297	664,017,606	154,500	120,800	12,949	4.1
Jul	4,234	650,247,978	153,600	119,800	12,928	4.0
Aug	3,794	570,753,130	150,400	117,300	13,208	4.1
Sep	3,060	443,009,644	144,800	115,100	13,135	4.0
Oct	3,193	473,497,512	148,300	113,600	12,968	4.0
Nov	2,856	408,922,013	143,200	114,400	12,166	3.7
Dec	3,124	465,261,363	148,900	117,800	-	-
1999-Jan	2,149	332,821,625	154,900	115,900	-	-
Feb	2,805	424,465,117	151,300	119,400	-	-
Mar	3,801	588,270,690	154,800	120,800	13,207	3.9
Apr	3,782	579,470,580	153,200	119,500	13,845	4.1
May	4,096	647,645,509	158,100	123,700	14,305	4.2
Jun	4,644	785,381,044	169,100	127,900	14,768	4.3
Jul	4,307	669,626,772	155,500	122,200	14,843	4.3
Aug	4,128	627,559,419	152,000	121,800	14,557	4.2
Sep	3,671	551,423,779	150,200	116,800	14,374	4.1
Oct	3,236	506,979,487	156,700	119,000	14,156	4.0
Nov	3,227	518,710,697	160,700	120,800	13,321	3.7
Dec	3,353	536,894,379	160,100	123,900	12,724	3.5
2000-Jan	2,286	375,389,865	164,200	124,400	13,316	3.7
Feb	3,247	555,124,812	171,000	127,700	13,495	3.7
Mar	4,244	702,148,377	165,400	128,500	13,752	3.7
Apr	3,977	667,331,427	167,800	132,000	13,752	3.7
May	4,545	783,197,806	172,300	137,100	14,018	3.7
Jun	4,738	846,254,912	178,600	138,800	14,392	3.8
Jul	4,276	763,793,916	178,600	139,600	14,705	3.9
Aug	4,373	770,735,708	176,200	134,500	14,607	3.9
Sep	3,654	643,046,932	176,000	136,000	15,109	4.0
Oct	3,601	626,302,634	173,900	134,600	15,212	4.0
Nov	3,407	589,401,171	173,000	133,200	14,565	3.8
Dec	3,098	554,774,879	179,100	138,700	13,762	3.6
2001-Jan	2,542	426,059,934	167,600	130,300	14,931	3.9
Feb	3,257	578,096,015	177,500	139,300	15,389	4.0
Mar	4,306	766,269,442	178,000	142,400	16,063	4.2
Apr	3,976	700,310,163	176,100	140,800	17,059	4.5
May	4,633	832,516,238	179,700	141,700	17,814	4.7
Jun	5,065	941,310,414	185,800	146,300	18,372	4.8
Jul	4,745	866,755,946	182,700	144,300	18,741	4.8
Aug	4,603	839,224,430	182,300	141,400	18,584	4.8
Sep	3,551	630,982,262	177,700	144,500	18,998	4.9
Oct	3,449	564,356,982	163,600	136,000	19,403	5.0
Nov	3,373	582,425,484	172,700	142,300	18,495	4.8
Dec	3,492	624,519,434	178,800	142,600	17,290	4.4
2002-Jan	2,862	502,970,859	175,700	140,700	18,240	4.6
Feb	3,461	616,881,882	178,200	143,700	18,927	4.8
Mar	4,021	731,728,110	182,000	145,200	19,367	4.9
Apr	4,185	766,278,911	183,100	144,900	20,139	5.1
May	4,769	913,391,794	191,500	145,600	21,153	5.3
Jun	4,423	817,899,695	184,900	148,400	22,043	5.6
Jul	4,559	857,727,953	188,100	145,100	23,165	5.9
Aug	4,386	811,329,118	185,000	145,500	23,056	5.9
Sep	3,716	653,244,332	175,800	142,800	23,551	6.1
Oct	3,672	657,676,258	179,100	143,700	23,458	6.0
Nov	3,415	611,752,816	179,100	143,400	22,758	5.8
Dec	3,730	698,773,428	187,300	148,100	21,559	5.5
2003-Jan	2,795	495,512,434	177,300	141,900	23,586	6.0
Feb	2,994	549,263,980	183,500	145,600	24,381	6.3
Mar	4,245	775,700,960	182,700	146,100	25,382	6.5
Apr	4,077	752,063,142	184,500	146,800	26,210	6.7
May	4,655	883,859,330	189,900	150,600	26,824	6.9
Jun	4,847	920,352,540	189,900	154,000	27,169	6.9
Jul	5,085	988,546,517	194,400	153,400	27,286	6.9
Aug	5,003	957,387,591	191,400	153,300	26,604	6.6
Sep	4,267	819,435,447	192,000	148,300	26,372	6.5
Oct	4,136	772,657,281	186,800	143,600	25,757	6.3
Nov	3,225	614,476,976	190,500	144,500	25,093	6.1
Dec	3,949	757,974,150	191,900	147,200	24,013	5.8
2004-Jan	2,904	523,105,156	180,100	138,900	25,365	6.2
Feb	3,409	643,892,110	188,900	146,700	25,849	6.2
Mar	4,835	924,268,970	191,200	146,600	26,821	6.4
Apr	5,006	985,509,075	196,900	148,900	27,938	6.5
May	5,116	997,391,985	195,000	149,600	28,496	6.6
Jun	5,511	1,134,082,858	205,800	159,300	28,725	6.6
Jul	5,398	1,073,634,588	198,900	154,500	28,842	6.6
Aug	5,222	1,038,300,840	198,800	152,400	28,612	6.5
Sep	4,444	834,310,868	187,700	146,300	28,055	6.3
Oct	4,184	802,557,736	191,800	148,900	27,386	6.2
Nov	3,996	754,389,601	188,800	148,900	26,079	5.8
Dec	4,489	870,957,702	194,000	148,100	24,190	5.3
2005-Jan	2,981	547,637,034	183,700	140,200	25,873	5.7
Feb	3,762	728,884,739	193,700	147,600	26,794	5.9
Mar	5,349	1,074,448,492	200,900	151,700	27,751	6.0
Apr	5,261	1,046,087,320	198,800	152,000	28,745	6.2
May	5,681	1,140,244,812	200,700	154,400	28,790	6.1
Jun	6,416	1,352,136,392	210,700	158,900	28,875	6.1
Jul	5,808	1,191,501,494	205,100	159,800	29,103	6.1
Aug	6,006	1,231,779,356	205,100	158,000	-	-
Sep	5,086	1,013,634,502	199,300	154,500	27,562	5.6
Oct	4,696	943,709,896	201,000	155,100	27,113	5.5
Nov	4,413	911,211,915	206,500	158,500	26,468	5.3
Dec	4,521	952,447,451	210,700	157,100	24,860	5.0
2006-Jan	3,457	681,032,359	197,000	149,600	26,232	5.2
Feb	4,311	860,515,451	199,600	154,100	26,793	5.3
Mar	5,883	1,199,917,590	204,000	154,900	27,795	5.4
Apr	5,332	1,079,456,628	202,400	154,800	29,147	5.7
May	6,410	1,407,381,438	219,600	164,500	29,775	5.7
Jun	7,117	1,546,598,624	217,300	163,400	30,323	5.8
Jul	5,965	1,283,170,506	215,100	164,000	31,191	5.9
Aug	6,344	1,336,466,287	210,700	158,300	30,770	5.8
Sep	5,052	982,886,817	194,600	150,200	31,030	5.9
Oct	5,033	1,010,810,885	200,800	152,300	30,258	5.7
Nov	4,585	940,142,663	205,000	154,900	29,060	5.4
Dec	4,737	993,052,385	209,600	156,300	27,369	5.1
2007-Jan	3,626	731,573,846	201,800	149,300	28,328	5.3
Feb	4,248	861,440,268	202,800	153,500	29,121	5.4
Mar	5,726	1,235,307,617	215,700	158,200	31,281	5.8
Apr	5,252	1,165,180,158	221,900	164,100	32,787	6.1
May	6,092	1,370,682,102	225,000	163,000	33,283	6.3
Jun	6,207	1,432,055,051	230,700	169,100	33,624	6.4
Jul	6,111	1,330,935,156	217,800	163,700	33,414	6.4
Aug	6,041	1,353,660,825	224,100	165,700	32,915	6.3
Sep	4,069	847,151,558	208,200	157,500	32,907	6.4
Oct	4,396	903,923,726	205,600	153,500	32,079	6.3
Nov	4,124	888,702,214	215,500	155,400	30,563	6.0
Dec	3,803	814,393,850	214,100	153,700	27,649	5.6
2008-Jan	3,210	630,240,854	196,300	146,100	28,933	5.9
Feb	3,869	773,134,573	199,800	147,400	29,206	6.0
Mar	4,495	962,729,451	214,200	159,600	30,124	6.3
Apr	4,764	1,028,613,369	215,900	157,600	30,471	6.4
May	5,198	1,144,397,358	220,200	162,100	30,340	6.5
Jun	5,180	1,134,394,581	219,000	164,400	30,340	6.6
Jul	5,125	1,130,066,358	220,500	163,500	29,724	6.6
Aug	4,912	1,062,012,827	216,200	159,300	28,367	6.4
Sep	4,293	875,314,057	203,900	150,100	27,406	6.2
Oct	3,709	772,075,592	208,200	154,300	26,563	6.1
Nov	2,801	557,480,064	199,000	144,000	26,573	6.2
Dec	3,292	664,006,859	201,700	147,600	24,321	5.7
2009-Jan	2,346	417,085,333	177,800	138,300	25,070	6.0
Feb	2,979	564,485,187	189,500	147,200	25,641	6.3
Mar	3,631	694,327,912	191,200	147,900	26,346	6.6
Apr	3,694	709,506,666	192,100	149,100	26,782	6.8
May	4,119	851,097,758	206,600	164,300	26,918	7.0
Jun	4,691	1,001,824,336	213,600	166,600	24,677	6.5
Jul	4,865	1,004,407,059	206,500	163,400	24,387	6.5
Aug	4,193	874,205,286	208,500	159,600	23,827	6.4
Sep	4,045	809,693,379	200,200	155,700	22,979	6.2
Oct	4,149	806,064,396	194,300	152,700	22,128	5.9
Nov	3,773	741,958,892	196,600	151,200	21,552	5.6
Dec	3,402	691,647,882	203,300	149,900	20,260	5.3
2010-Jan	2,208	419,660,135	190,100	140,800	21,825	5.7
Feb	2,773	548,738,054	197,900	149,800	22,991	6.1
Mar	4,080	823,829,964	201,900	156,700	24,125	6.3
Apr	4,774	995,670,620	208,600	160,000	24,290	6.2
May	4,875	1,020,728,102	209,400	161,900	25,680	6.4
Jun	4,629	1,050,536,713	226,900	166,900	26,812	6.7
Jul	3,320	775,825,047	233,700	168,500	27,709	7.2
Aug	3,364	718,427,709	213,600	165,100	27,346	7.2
Sep	3,066	653,155,540	213,000	159,300	26,745

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