In September, 58.9% of home offers written by Redfin agents faced competition—a record low for 2021. That’s down from a revised rate of 60.8% in August and a peak of 74.3% in April. September marked the fifth-straight month of declines, putting the bidding-war rate on par with the level seen a year earlier (58.3%).
An offer is considered part of a bidding war if a Redfin agent reported that it faced at least one competing bid. This data is subject to revision. Redfin’s bidding-war data dates back to April 2020.
The housing market has been cooling due to a typical seasonal slowdown, which has helped ease competition, but homes are still selling faster than usual for this time of year. This demand is largely fueled by an ongoing shortage of homes for sale. New listings fell 9% year over year in September and the typical home that sold went under contract in 18 days–more than a week faster than a year earlier.
“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.”
Raleigh, NC had the highest bidding-war rate of the 45 U.S. metropolitan areas in this analysis, with 73.9% of offers written by Redfin agents facing competition in September. Next came Boston at 71.7% and Indianapolis at 71.4%. Sacramento, CA, and San Diego rounded out the top five, with bidding-war rates of 70.5% and 70.3%, respectively.
“Fall in Jacksonville is historically a slow time, as fewer people are looking to move,” said Heather Kruayai, a Redfin agent in Jacksonville, FL, where the bidding-war rate dropped to 50% in September from 71.4% in August. “Even though there aren’t as many bidding wars, listings are still selling quickly, so it’s busier than previous years. During the spring and summer, I would get listings that would receive 30 offers within 24 hours of hitting the market and people offering as much as $70,000 over the asking price. That’s not as common now.”
Metros must have had at least 20 offers recorded by Redfin agents in both September 2021 and August 2021 to be included in this analysis.
The table below is sorted by highest to lowest bidding-war rates in September 2021. Blank spaces in the September 2020 column represent metros for which there were fewer than 20 offers submitted by Redfin agents that month.
