The Best Week to Buy a Home in San Diego Is Coming Up Fast

Every year, Realtor.com puts out a report that home shoppers should actually pay attention to: the "Best Time to Buy" report. It's not a guess or a gut feeling — they score every week of the year from 2018 through 2025 (skipping 2020, since the pandemic threw everything off) across six measures: active listings, new listings, listing prices, time on market, buyer demand, and price reductions. Whichever week scores highest across all six becomes the "Best Week" for that market.

What the Report Found Nationally

At the national level, Realtor.com is naming the week of September 27–October 3 as the best week to buy in 2026. During that window, buyers may see up to 31.9% more active listings than they would have found at the start of the year, with prices projected to sit about 3.5% below their seasonal peak — working out to roughly $14,000 in savings on a median-priced home. Competition also eases significantly during this stretch, with buyer views per listing running about 30.1% below the yearly peak.

Also notably, the report states that about 5.7% of homes see price reductions during the best week, one of the strongest stretches of the year for seller price cuts, alongside roughly 20% more new listings than at the start of the year.

Interesting context on why this window exists at all: Realtor.com's senior economist pointed out that with mortgage rates still elevated, this fall window is a real opportunity for buyers to compensate for that by having less competition to deal with, and prices that have eased from their high. In other words, even though rates aren't doing buyers any favors right now, the report is basically saying: this is exactly where you claw some of that back.

So When Is San Diego's Best Week To Buy?

For our market — San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad — the report highlights October 11–17 as the best week to buy, but really, all of October is good. 

What This Means If You're House Hunting in San Diego

Don't think of October 11–17 as a "buy this exact week or miss out" deadline — that's not really the point. The point is what that window represents: a stretch where, historically, San Diego buyers have seen more homes to choose from, less competition for each one, and sellers more willing to negotiate than earlier in the year.

If you've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the market to give you a little breathing room, this may be that time. It doesn't erase the effect of today's rates, but paired with more inventory and more negotiating room, it could help mitigate those somewhat.

If you'd like to be ready to take advantage of it — pre-approval in place, a clear sense of your budget, a plan for what you're looking for — now's the time to start that conversation, not the week itself.

Now for the fine print: this is based on historical data and can not predict what will happen in the future.  This is also at a city/county level, and each neighborhood in San Diego could act very differently.  Curious what this looks like for your specific budget or neighborhood search? Just reply to this email. 

Love Where You Live,
Allesen Cann