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January is the cheapest month to buy a home; here's how much you could save

By
Published  January 7, 2026 10:32am MST
Real Estate
FOX Local
Housing market crash? Experts disagree on trends

Housing market crash? Experts disagree on trends

Dave Meyer, Head of Real Estate Investing at BiggerPockets in Seattle, joins Andy Mac with LiveNOW from FOX to discuss predictions of a housing market crash coming from certain segments of economic analysis.

The Brief

    • LendingTree’s analysis of 24 million properties found January had the lowest price per square foot, about 8% cheaper than May, potentially saving buyers roughly $23,400 on a typical 1,500-square-foot home.
    • Homes listed in January also stayed on the market longer (a median of 75 days), giving buyers more negotiating power.

If you're thinking about buying a home this year, now might be the best time to do it. 

LendingTree researchers analyzed data on about 24 million residential properties from Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2024 to determine the best month to buy a home. 

To estimate potential savings from timing a home purchase, the financial company compared the month with the lowest median sales price with the month with the highest median sales price for each state and home size. Twelve nondisclosure states were excluded from the analysis.

January cheapest month to buy home

By the numbers:

LendingTree's analysis, published in October, revealed that timing the market may be able to save buyers tens of thousands of dollars, with January offering the biggest savings. 

Among the available home size ranges, the data found that the price per square foot was lowest in January. January was 8% cheaper than May at $178.60 — saving buyers about $23,400 on a 1,500-square-foot home.

A for sale sign is displayed outside a property during winter months. (Credit: Lance McMillan/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

And it’s not just that prices were lower in January. The data found that homes were also on the market longer. 

In January, newly listed homes lingered on the market for a median of 75 days, the slowest sales pace of the year. 

May is most expensive month to buy home

Dig deeper:

The data also found that May was the most expensive month to buy at $194.20 per square foot.

What they're saying:

"Saving $23k+ is a significant difference," Matt Schulz, a LendingTree analyst, said. "That can shave tens of thousands off the cost of the home, making something affordable that might not have been otherwise."

He added: "It can also make it a little easier to reach 20% with a down payment, which is huge. If you reach that magic 20% mark, you can avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI), which can make a major difference in your monthly payments."

Americans buy 1.4x more homes in summer than in winter. From 2015 to 2024, summer made up 29.1% of all home sales, ahead of spring (25.4%), fall (25.2%), and winter (20.2%).

Most affordable cities in US

Big picture view:

In November, Realtor.com analysts also analyzed listing price data, median income levels, and rent data to look at the typical home costs and how it measured up against local incomes and rent.

RELATED: Here's the ‘most affordable’ city in the US for 2025

The data found that Pittsburgh was the most affordable large U.S. housing market for 2025, with a $250,000 median listing price – over $150,000 below the national median, according to data by Realtor.com

Pittsburgh was followed by Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland and Indianapolis. 

The Source: The information for this story was provided by LendingTree, which analyzed ATTOM data on about 24 million residential properties from Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2024. The analysis was based on the assessor’s last sale date, the assessor’s last sale amount (the sale price recorded by the local property assessor) and the raw square footage of all structures on the property, aggregated by the month of sale, property size and the state in which the property is located. Then the researchers compared the month with the lowest median sales price with the month with the highest median sales price for each state and home size. Nondisclosure states (Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming) were excluded. This story was reported from Los Angeles. Previous FOX Local reporting contributed.

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