No Home Sales for Xmas? Bah humbug!

Real estate Myth No. 1: Home sales are seasonal, and you don't have a prayer of Santa bringing you a buyer when everyone's busy celebrating the holidays.

While it's true that many families prefer to buy and settle into their new homes during the summer months -- all the better to get Junior settled into the new school --- it's an outright fallacy that people don't buy homes during the holidays.

The National Association of Realtors doesn't keep stats on how many offers are written on Christmas or New Year's Day, but plenty of anecdotal evidence suggests that there is more than smooching going on under that mistletoe. In realty circles, it's known as the Christmas Miracle.

So ditch those long-held notions. "Seasonality is dead," says John R. Davidson, a Keller Williams Beverly Hills agent.

Davidson said he's seen a marked shift in the past few years, with buyers more willing to do business through the holidays.