Bidding wars skyrocket as property listings fall to record lows

Categories: Homes Planning Real Estate

Published 02/22/2021

Presidents Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the spring housing market, but if you’re looking to get in this year, hold onto your wallet. Bidding wars are off the charts, even as home prices are rising rapidly.

The primary reason longtime home searchers haven’t bought a house yet is that they keep getting outbid. About 40% of potential buyers cited that in a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders. The reasons are flipped from a year earlier when 44% said unaffordable prices were the primary reason they hadn’t bought yet, and 19% cited getting outbid.

According to a Redfin survey, about 56% of all buyers faced bidding on their offers in January. That is up from 52% in December. More than half of homes are now entering escrow in less than two weeks.

Competition is fierce across the nation! According to Redfin’s survey of 24 major markets, offers in San Diego (78.9%) and the Bay Area (77.1%) faced fierce competition. Over this weekend, Darryl Glass, Broker-Associate with Advent Properties, Inc, toured his latest listing, 27084 Underwood Avenue, 41 times on Saturday alone.

Experts believe this is likely due to the current level of supply or lack thereof. We are experiencing record lows in property supply. Driven by the wide-spread stay-at-home effect of the Covid pandemic, the increases in property demand swiftly shook the already low inventory — due to homebuilding delays. Record-low mortgage rates only fueled the high level of demand even more.

Sellers have also pulled back, not wanting to go through the ordeal of putting their homes on the market during Covid. According to realtor.com, the number of newly listed homes was down 29% year-over-year, pushing the total inventory down 47% in January. Home prices had appreciated at a double-digit rate each week for 26 straight weeks leading into January. The median listing price for a home was up nearly 13% compared with January 2020.

Experts have foreshadowed this seller’s market to last for only a few more weeks before the market cools-off. Now might be your best opportunity to list your property on the market. If you’re looking for tips, resources, or a guide to listing your home, you can rely on Darryl Glass! Give him a call today at (510) 250-7918 ext. 2, or click here to schedule a call with Darryl on his calendar.

If you are a home buyer consistently getting overbid on property listings or in the early stages of deciding to purchase the home of your dreams — click here to view Darryl’s Ultimate Home Buying Checklist to help guide you along the way.

This story originally appeared on cnbc.com.