Eager to Buy a Home? 3 Great Reasons to Look During the Winter

The most popular time to list and buy a home during the year generally tends to be spring. In fact, many homeowners like to list their properties during the warmer weather months because that's when it's easiest to show off their homes' curb appeal.

Similarly, as a buyer, you might prefer to do your house hunting in the spring. That way, you won't have to deal with frigid weather and snowstorms en route to see different properties.

But actually, winter can be a great time to buy a home -- in general and today especially. Here's why.

1. You might have less competition

The U.S. housing market is sorely lacking inventory right now. As of the end of October, there was only a 3.6-month supply of available homes, as per the National Association of Realtors. And it can easily take a six-month supply to fully satisfy buyer demand.

At a time when inventory is low, it's a good thing to have less competition when you're looking to buy a home. Since winter isn't a very popular time for buyers to be looking, you may find that if you push forward with your home search in January or February, you might have certain listings all to yourself.

This gives you more leeway to negotiate with sellers. And it also means you may not have to worry about landing in a bidding war.

2. You might see lower prices

Despite higher mortgage rates that may be pushing some buyers out of the market, housing prices are still high. And the reason largely boils down to a lack of inventory.

If you buy a home during the winter, you might see it listed for less, since sellers know that it's not necessarily a great time to find a buyer. And at a time when mortgage lenders are charging such high rates, shaving a little money off of the purchase price of a home could result in a nice amount of savings.

3. You'll get a chance to see how well specific homes fare in the cold

You may be willing to commit to the expense of a mortgage if it means getting to enjoy a comfortable living space of your own. But unless you actually go and visit a home during the heart of winter, you can't necessarily be confident that it will, in fact, be comfortable when temperatures are plunging.

On the other hand, if you go to see a house on a 20-degree day and find that it's nice and toasty inside, it's a sign that the heating system works and that the insulation is decent and doing its job. That's a good thing, because paying for a heating system upgrade is an expense you may not want to bear after emptying your bank account to put a down payment on a home.

Buying a home in winter does have some drawbacks. Weather issues aside, it's hard to get a sense of a home's landscaping during the winter. And there are certain outdoor features you may not get to test out, like a pool, if you're conducting your search in January. But for the above reasons, it pays to consider looking for a home this winter -- especially if you're hoping to buy at a time when inventory is tight and prices remain stubbornly elevated.