Ten percent of offers written by Redfin agents faced a bidding war in November, down from 29 percent a year ago and hovering at the 10-year low for the fifth consecutive month, the company said.
Redfin said San Francisco was the only market that remained competitive in November. The bidding war rate was 30 percent in San Francisco, down from 53 percent a year earlier and down from 34 percent in October.
“Almost every home for sale that is in a great location and priced competitively is still receiving multiple offers,” San Francisco Redfin agent Miriam Westberg said in a release. “One home we made an offer on last week had 25 other offers.
“However, homebuyers definitely feel like they can be more selective this year, so homes that don’t check every single box may only get a single offer, and tend to take a longer time to sell,” Westberg said.
According to the report, the bidding war rate hit its lowest point in at least five years in November in Chicago, Houston, Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles.
“Even though the number of homes for sale has been falling faster than we normally see this time of year, buyers just aren’t feeling any sense of urgency right now,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. “The supply and demand data still says that it’s a seller’s market, but homebuyers working with Redfin agents in places like Portland and Denver are feeling and acting like they're in control.
“Most of the homes that they are seeing are simply not worth getting into a bidding war over, so they’re more than willing to wait until the new year in the hopes that more homes will hit the market,” Fairweather said.
Redfin said Houston was the least competitive market in November, with just 1.4 percent of offers facing a bidding war. Miami was barely above that at 1.7 percent and Raleigh was the third least competitive market, with 2.6 percent of offers facing competition.