You have more chance of finding the house you want in the summer. But you’ll pay more for it

For many of us, purchasing a house is one of the most important financial decisions that we will ever make. But does when we buy or sell a house matter? In new research, Silvana Tenreyro and Liwa R. Ngai find that housing markets are seasonal, with prices rising in the spring and summer, and declining in the fall and winter. They argue that this is due to a self-reinforcing pattern where a ‘hot season’ leads to more choice for buyers, who are in turn willing to pay more for houses that are a better quality match.