A decrease in bidding wars?

According to a recent Redfin survey, only 16% of offers were met with a bidding war for the first three weeks of March 2019.

This is down 45% from March 2018, but up 4% from December 2018, when bidding wars hit a low of 12%.

The report also found that homes are spending a little bit more time on the market. Year-to-year comparisons show homes that sold in February stayed on the market for a median of 59 days, up two days from 2018, the largest rise in time on the market in more than four years.

Philadelphia was the only Pennsylvania city that was analyzed. In the area, 17% of offers saw competition from others from March 1-21, compared to 47% in the same period in 2018. San Francisco, Boston and San Diego are the most competitive markets, still seeing at least 20% of offers in bidding wars, but also a significant decrease year-to-year, when they were seeing at least triple that.

February saw a drop in home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Pending home sales decreased 4.9% year-to-year. “As a whole, these numbers indicate that a cyclical low in sales is in the past, but activity is not matching the frenzied pace of last spring,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

With less inventory on the market, some homeowners are opting to stay put, which may be eliminating the competition, and lowering sales.