Why you should go househunting in December

It may not seem it but December is a great time to bag a bargain property.

It’s the time of year when many of us are focusing on our Christmas shopping. But if you are thinking about moving house in the new year, you should pop a property on your Christmas list. That’s because December is actually a fantastic month for house shopping.

Historically, December is one of the quietest months for the housing market. Most people put their house hunt on hold while they focus on Christmas and are also put off traipsing the streets looking at property due to the bleak weather. But this can work in your favour.

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Your bids look better!

“When other prospective buyers are taking a house-hunting break and are busy shopping for Christmas, a keen seller will be happy to see you. And a lack of other bids will make yours seem more appealing,” says Miles Shipside, housing market analyst at Rightmove.

This year it is a particularly good idea to carry on looking for your new home while other potential buyers are distracted. At the moment demand is far outstripping supply for property. This means you’ll often find yourself in a scrum when it comes to putting in an offer on a property. So get out there on the hunt when it is quiet and you stand a better chance of snapping up your dream home when you find it.

“With this year’s sellers’ market looking likely to continue into next year, there is a small window of opportunity to be ahead of some of your buyer competition,” says Shipside.

You might get a better mortgage

Another reason to house hunt in December is that with many people distracted by Christmas you are also likely to find mortgage lenders aren’t quite as busy as normal either. This means your application may be dealt with quicker and you could even get a better deal.

“Lenders have certainly been competing hard recently and many fixed rates have been cut as a result,” says David Hollingworth, an associate director at mortgage broker London & Country Mortgages. “Towards the end of the year many lenders are either eager to get business on the books before the end of the year or to start building a pipeline of business to take through to the New Year.”

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Getting ahead

Finally, sticking with your search through the busy Christmas month can also put you a step ahead of the numerous new buyers who come to the market in the new year.

“Early January is a very busy time of year for the property market. After the Christmas lull, thoughts turn to plans and resolutions for the year ahead, which in turn triggers a period of significant increase in traffic to property sites,” says Lawrence Hall, a spokesperson for Zoopla. 

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