Why the End of 2025 Can Be the Right Time to Buy Your Next Home

As 2025 draws to a close, you’re probably preparing for holiday celebrations and looking forward to some downtime. If you’re interested in buying a house, you might think you should wait until next year, but now can actually be an excellent time to shop for a new home.

You’ll Have Lots of Houses to Choose from and Less Competition

Homes have been lingering on the market longer than usual, which means there are plenty of properties for sale. Sellers have been lowering their asking prices and making other concessions to appeal to buyers.

Now that the holiday season is upon us, homebuyers have even more leverage. At this time of the year, people are busy shopping for gifts, planning parties, and traveling to visit loved ones. Often, people who are looking for a new home decide to put those plans on hold and resume their search after the holidays.

People who need to sell their house to start a new job next year are likely to feel frantic. They’re running out of time, and there are fewer potential buyers.

That can put you in a strong position. You might be able to buy a house for less than the asking price or get a seller to agree to other concessions.

What to Do before You Start Shopping for a Home

If you haven’t done so already, you should get preapproved for a mortgage. That will tell you how much you can borrow, and it will show sellers that you’re serious about buying a house and that you’ve got your finances in order.

You’ll also have to figure out how much to put down. You might have heard that you must put down 20% of the purchase price, but that’s not true. A 20% down payment used to be standard practice, but nowadays, many buyers put down much less. If you can only make a small down payment, you can still achieve your goal of buying a house.

You can seek a loan through a government agency, such as the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Department of Agriculture, or through a conventional lender, such as a bank or credit union. A down payment assistance program might provide funds that you can put toward a home purchase.

If you take advantage of one of those programs and you’re a first-time homebuyer, you’ll probably be required to take a homebuyer education course, such as Financial Freedom Voyage’s First-Time Homebuyer Masterclass. In the course, you’ll learn how the homebuying process works, all the costs associated with owning a house, and how to figure out how much you can afford. The course will also tell you about common mistakes that buyers make and help you avoid falling into those traps.

When you complete the course, you’ll receive a certificate that you can share with your lender. Enroll in the First-Time Homebuyer Masterclass today.