The data indicates that, while competition has been easing due to the housing market cooling from the typical seasonal slowdown, homes are still selling faster than usual for this time of year. Redfin pointed to the ongoing shortage of homes for sale as fueling the demand, with new listings falling 9% year-over-year in September.
“It’s typical to see a decline in competition as families head back to school and the weather cools down,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr. “Buyers also aren’t having to offer as much above the asking price as they were in the spring, when competition in the housing market was peaking. As mortgage rates continue to rise, we can expect bidding wars to keep slowing.”
The real estate firm also revealed that Raleigh in North Carolina was the housing market with the highest bidding-war rate of the 45 US metropolitan areas it analyzed, with 73.9% of offers written by Redfin agents facing competition in September. This was followed by Boston, Mass. at 71.7% and Indianapolis, Ind. at 71.4%. Sacramento, Calif., and San Diego, Calif. rounded out the top five, with bidding-war rates of 70.5% and 70.3%, respectively.