The Best Week to Buy a Home in 2026

Realtor.com just named September 27 through October 3 as the best week (on average) to buy a home in 2026. 

Buyers shopping that week could see up to 31.9% more active listings than they saw at the start of the year, plus savings of about $14,000 on a median-priced home compared to the summer peak.

In other words, this is one of those stretches where the numbers tilt more noticeably in buyers’ favor. 

Here’s why Realtor.com picked this exact week, what the national numbers look like, how the timing changes by metro, and what it means for the conversations you’re having with buyer clients right now.

Why September 27th – October 3rd Ranks as the Best Week for Buyers

Realtor.com built this ranking by scoring every week of the year from 2018 through 2025, leaving out 2020 because of pandemic distortion. 

Each week was scored across six seasonal measures, then ranked by a combined score. The week with the highest score across all six became the Best Week.

The six measures:

• Active listings
• Fresh (new) listings
• Listing prices
• Time on market
• Homebuyer demand, measured by views per property
• Price reductions

This year’s Best Week came earlier than the past two years. Inventory and price reductions both peaked earlier this past fall, which pulled the whole window forward.

Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, points to the combination of factors that sets this week apart.

“Home shoppers heading into fall will find an opportunity that has been hard to come by in recent years: more choices and less urgency. That window has consistently landed in early fall, and this year it arrives a bit earlier than the past couple of years, as inventory and price reductions both peaked earlier this past fall. The week of September 27–October 3 brings together the market conditions buyers value most—elevated inventory, less competition and prices that have eased from their seasonal high—giving prepared buyers more room to compare homes and negotiate with confidence.”

Here’s what buyers can expect nationally during the Best Week:

• 13.3% more active listings than the average week, and 31.9% more than the start of the year
• Buyer demand (views per property) 30.1% below the annual peak and 14.4% below the average week
• Homes spending close to 64 days on market, about 13 days longer than the year’s fastest pace
• Listing prices running about 3.5% below their seasonal high, which comes out to around $14,000 in savings on a $416,000 median-priced home
• 5.7% of homes seeing price reductions, one of the strongest weeks of the year for seller price cuts
• 20.0% more new listings than at the start of the year

How the Market Got Here

2026 started on solid footing. Then mortgage rates, triggered by the financial impact of the Iran conflict (initiated in February), climbed through the summer and slowed things down.

Active listings kept growing year over year. They’re still about 11% below pre-pandemic levels across the country.

Softer buyer demand and a slower pace pushed the market toward buyers this fall.

The Best Week by Metro, and What It Means for Agents

The national date doesn’t reflect the best week for every metro. Here’s the Best Week for all 50 largest metros, grouped by when it falls, so you can look up your own market:

September 6 – 12 (Earliest)

1. Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

September 13 – 19

1. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

September 20 – 26

1. Memphis, TN-MS-AR
2. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

September 27 – October 3 (matches the national Best Week)

1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
2. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
5. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
6. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
7. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
8. Kansas City, MO-KS
9. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
11. Oklahoma City, OK
12. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
13. Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
14. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

October 4 – 10

1. Columbus, OH
2. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
3. Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV
4. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN
5. Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
6. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

October 11 – 17

1. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
2. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
3. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
5. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

October 18 – 24

1. Birmingham, AL
2. Cleveland, OH
3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

October 25 – 31

1. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
2. Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
3. Jacksonville, FL
4. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
5. Pittsburgh, PA
6. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
7. Richmond, VA
8. St. Louis, MO-IL

November 1 – 7

1. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
2. Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
3. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
4. Raleigh-Cary, NC
5. Tucson, AZ

November 8 – 14

1. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

November 29 – December 5 (Latest)

1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
2. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

In the 14 metros that match the national week, buyers see:

• 17.6% more listings than a typical week
• 36.1% less competition than the annual peak
• About two extra weeks on market compared to peak pace
• Listing prices 5.7% below peak levels

42 of the 50 largest metros fall within a month of the national Best Week.

For clients focused on selection, earlier fall brings the widest range of fresh listings. For clients focused on price, waiting closer to the holidays brings more room to negotiate.

The right call comes down to the buyer’s budget and their metro.

Jones lays out the strategy:

“Buyers should use this window strategically rather than treating one week as a deadline. Shopping earlier in the fall may provide the broadest selection of fresh listings, while waiting later in the season may bring additional price flexibility. The right choice depends on a buyer’s budget, timeline and local market, but preparation—including understanding a realistic monthly payment and getting pre-approved—will be especially valuable this fall.”

Turning a Data Point Into a Client Conversation

If your market lines up with the national “best week,” build outreach around those specific dates. Otherwise, use Realtor.com’s table to find the right window. 

Either way, this is a solid reason to reach out to buyer-side leads now, before the window opens.

Here’s an example you can use in a text message or email, or to start a phone conversation. Use the data from Realtor.com’s metro-level data table to fill in the blanks:

“Hey [Name], quick thing I wanted to pass along. Realtor.com just released its annual report on the best week to buy a home, and for our market, that window is [INSERT YOUR METRO’S BEST WEEK]. Inventory is typically [X %] higher and prices are typically [X %] lower than the seasonal peak during this week. Does that change your strategy at all?”

If they say the timing doesn’t work, follow-up with this: 

“Totally fair. Can I ask, is it more the timing itself or is there something else that needs to line up first?”

BAMx members get scripts like these and more using the Script Advisor built on the weekly roleplay masterminds with Byron Lazine, Lisa Chinatti, and Tom Toole, and updated every week. 

Use these scripts as a launchpad and make this a planning conversation. Ask what monthly payment feels comfortable, and get your buyers pre-approved before the best week starts. 

A prepared buyer beats one working off a headline alone.