
Image Caption: In recent years, tensions between full-time residents and vacation-home owners have boiled over around the world, but the stakes are especially high in Corsica.

Image Caption: The house in western New Jersey of Sarah Gundle, a psychologist. The house is a former church on an acre of burial grounds. She said she hesitated to approach mourners on the property, but hah found that “mostly, they want to chat.”

Anyone who's toured homes in June knows the drill — packed open houses, offers flying in, everyone trying to close before the school bell rings. Come September, that frenzy settles down, and the market opens up for buyers willing to move at a calmer pace. Our real estate agents watch this pattern play out year after year, and it's one worth knowing about if you're in the middle of a home search.
The reasons September stands out aren't complicated. Buyer traffic drops, sellers who've been waiting all summer start to feel it, and pricing responds accordingly.