Nearly 6,000 homes (5,897) sold for at least $100,000 over the asking price during the first six weeks of the year, according to a Redfin report. That’s more than double the number (2,241) from the same period last year.
January was the most competitive month on Redfin’s record, with 70 percent of home offers written by Redfin agents facing bidding wars (adjusted for seasonality). The median home-sale price also rose 14 percent year-over-year to $376,200, just shy of the all-time high.
“The housing market was in a frenzy in the beginning of 2022, with buyers competing for a limited supply of homes and sellers reaping the rewards of bid-up prices,” Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr said in a release. “Buyers are likely to face strong competition at least through the next few months as demand is buoyed by the temporary drop in mortgage rates fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But bidding wars may ease a bit by summer as more new listings come on the market and mortgage rates resume their rise. Homes are still likely to sell above list price, but the premiums will probably be lower.”
Redfin analyzed sale prices versus list prices in the 50 most populous metros from Jan. 1 through Feb. 15, compared with the same period last year.
Six of the top 10 metros where homes sold for six figures above list price are in California. In the Los Angeles metro area, 718 homes sold for at least $100,000 over asking price, more than any other major metro and up from 273 a year ago. Next came Oakland, Calif. (580), San Jose, Calif. (490), Seattle (488), Anaheim, Calif. (365), San Francisco (335), San Diego (323), Boston (158), Denver (125) and New York (109).
In L.A., home prices rose 15 percent year-over-year in January to a median of $825,000, making it the second-most expensive place in the country to buy a home, after the Bay Area.
“On top of a lack of homes for sale, which makes everything a hot commodity, buyers are just plain eager,” Los Angeles Redfin agent Sylva Khayalian said. “They’re anxious to purchase a home ASAP because as rates rise, they won’t be able to afford the homes they’re looking at now and they’ll soon have to drop into a lower price range. People are willing to bid up home prices because they want to be done with their search.”