In other parts of the country where the weather stays warmer, the effects aren’t quite as noticeable, but in central Indiana the real estate market generally slows down somewhat this time of year. Partly due to the weather, as most people don’t feel much like moving when it’s colder…and partly due to the holiday season itself, as people prioritize their time toward holiday preparations, travel, shopping, parties, etc. There’s just less time to shop for homes. Realtors are just like everyone else too. They start kicking in to the holiday mode right along with everyone else. So the effect is the market gets noticeably slower after Thanksgiving through the first of the year. I don’t know of any Realtor though who wouldn’t make time to put a sale together if one of their customers wanted to.
The other side of this is, there still are Buyers out there looking. Usually if they are looking, they are more motivated than the fair-weather crowd for a variety of reasons. Maybe they are switching jobs and relocating to Indy, or their lease is up at the end of December, or for whatever reason, they have to buy a home. So if you are a Seller, it’s not the time to roll up the sidewalks. There are less people looking, but those that are are more serious and less likely to quibble. Homes look so nice this time of the year too with all the decorations.
The Spring market begins and things start picking up about the second week in January after people shake off the New Year’s glow. 2010!…wow. We’ve been so used to saying “Oh-one” through Oh-nine” (’01 – ’09). How many times will we hear someone say “Oh-ten” in January? I bet I’ll make that mistake myself a time or two.
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