"Not many people decide to casually look over the holiday," said Jeffrey Block, an agent with Prudential Fox & Roach who sells in Center City. "But if someone is ready to buy, they certainly will."
Said Noelle Barbone, who manages the Weichert Realtors office in Media: "Holiday time is when people have some downtime and can get out and shop for a house."
In addition, Barbone said, "corporate transferees are out and about in December and January," months that, even in an unending economic downturn, find business executives on the move.
Marianne Harris, sales and marketing director for Dranoff Properties in Philadelphia, said, "It seems like many companies are completing their calendar-year budgets, and they are hiring people to start in January, so these new hires are looking for places to live."
Plus, Harris said, "rather than being distracted at the holidays, a lot of people are making 'life decisions' for the upcoming year."
She and her husband "bought our home at the Shore in December because we had time then to really check out the market, and the end of the year seemed like a good time to plan for the following year."
Diane Williams, of Weichert Realtors in Blue Bell, recalls spending one New Year's Day writing an agreement of sale for first-time buyers.
Even though the real estate market remains slow generally, Williams said she sold an $875,000 listing in the first week of December, took a set of buyers from house to house in Upper Bucks County during the torrential downpours of Dec. 7, and has several listing appointments in the week up to Christmas Eve.
There are, of course, tax advantages to closing on a house before the first of the year. Consult your accountant or the person who prepares your return for details.
But there are also some caveats to holiday-time real estate activity.
