A housewarming party is a party traditionally held soon after moving into a new residence. The hosts present their new home to their friends, post-moving, and for friends to give gifts to furnish the new home. House-warming parties are generally informal.

The English term "housewarming" literally comes from the act of warming a new house, in the days before central heating. Each guest would bring firewood as a gift and build fires in all available fireplaces. Aside from warming the house, this was believed to repel evil spirits by creating a protective atmosphere of warmth. Uninhabited houses were considered targets for vagrant spirits, and therefore houses were believed to require cleansing before they were safe to be occupied by young children. The origin is from the medieval times.^{[clarification needed]}