Are the Home Bidding Wars Over?

Phil Hall

Feb 12, 2019

Home bidding has become so 2018, according to new data from Redfin that found only 13 percent of offers written by the Seattle-based brokerage’s agents in January involved price competition, a dramatic drop from the 53 percent level set one year earlier.

San Francisco saw the most dramatic decline, from 82 percent of residential properties being the center of a bidding war in January 2018 to only 18 percent last month. The least competitive housing markets in January were Miami (with only three percent of properties in bidding competition), Dallas (six percent) and Houston (six percent)—one year earlier, these markets saw more than one-third of Redfin offers facing a more vibrant competition.

"Buyers have heard that the market has slowed, so now they're trying to get all of their 'wants,' not just their 'needs,'" said Palo Alto Redfin Agent Kalena Masching. "They're waiting until they find a home that can check more boxes—for instance three bedrooms instead of two or a higher rated school. In general, they are being more judicious as they think through their purchase. Meanwhile, many sellers have not yet recognized that the market has shifted."

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Feb 12, 2019

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