Homebuyer Competition Fell to 15-Month Low in May

Homebuyer competition for home offers written by Redfin agents dropped for the fourth consecutive month in May as home purchases become unaffordable for a growing number of Americans. According to Redfin, 57.8% of offers tracked in May faced competition on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest level since February 2021.

As buyer demand cools, bidding wars are becoming less frequent in popular housing markets, and sellers are seeing fewer offers compared with a mid-pandemic housing boom. The typical home in a bidding war attracted roughly 5.3 offers in May, down from 6.8 just one month ago and 7.4 in May 2021.

“Homes are now getting one to three offers, compared with five to 10 two months ago and as many as 25 to 30 six months ago,” said Jennifer Bowers, a Redfin real estate agent in Nashville. “Offers also aren’t coming in as high above the list price as before. I recently listed a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in a super cute neighborhood for $399,900. It ended up going under contract for $12,000 above the list price with an inspection, whereas three months ago, the buyer probably would have paid $60,000 over asking and waived the inspection.”

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