I guess my clients don’t push things as close as yours. There just seems to be less issues closing sometime other than the end of the month or end of the week, although with refinances being such a big thing now that might not matter as much. But more often the decision is based on other factors. They often want to do something with the place before moving in, and need time to do that. Or they just don’t want to wait.

Surprisingly it almost never seems to be based on wanting time to move. For me that would be a big factor, but I hate moving.

“We always try to avoid end of the month closings” Who is “we”? If my client is short on cash, especially now that they need more downpayment, I try to close no earlier than the 25th and as late as possible. The difference could be their moving money.

I fully expect lenders to go back to true Closing Costs only (without warning), and no seller contribution to “prepaids”. So be careful on that “we don’t” stuff. You clients may need the extra bucks for curtaiins or a new doormat

BTW, one big sale at the end of the month could affect the mean, but not likely the median.

Also, on the price per square foot issue, yes that is important. In my little neck of the woods (Fairwood) the mean and median are not that different than last year, but the houses selling are about 10% larger. Just looking at the mean or median would be deceiving.

The last days of December were pusing the median price up. There was a significant jump up in just two hours a few days ago, UNTIL I boiled it back down to price per square foot. That’s why price per square foot is important. One big sale near the end can throw the median into a different ballpark.

But assuming your assumption is correct that the price narrows down near the end, then yes, closer to month end closings being lower price could be the rationale.

For the benefit of readers (I know you know this, Kary) END OF MONTH closing cost less in out of pocket “closing cost” needs. If lenders go back to not wanting the seller to pay PREPAIDS this is going to be a very big issue.

The amount of interest paid at closing is increased by each day earlier in the month that you close.

Kary,

I would think that people who close between the 5th and 12th are not at all worried about cash issues, and may be higher sales. But another contributing factor is the large volume that close near the end. I would guess that 75% of all closings in a month happen in the last two weeks vs. the first two weeks. But I’d have to test that to be sure. The sheer volume would push the median toward…the actual median for the month.

I have a statistics question. Why does the county wide median seem to frequently decline as the month goes on? Do people buying less expensive places tend to want to close on the end of the month?

Definitely yes. Worlds of difference, but not for the reasons you have stated. More like one neighborhood in the zip code is close to Lake Washington. Another in the same zip code is close to the 405. Huge difference in pricing.