Agents in Northeast and Midwest Expect Bidding Wars to Pick Up Most
Homebuyers, get ready for battle. Redfin agents expect the spring housing market to be more competitive than it was last year, despite a subdued start for home sales in 2014. For the latest Redfin Real-Time Agent Survey, we polled 435 Redfin agents and partner agents in 26 U.S. markets, and 61 percent of them expect more competition than in 2013.
Agents foresee bidding wars picking up the most in the Northeast and Midwest. Uncoincidentally, these regions are struggling with the most severe inventory shortages. In Chicago and Boston, for example, homes for sale have decreased by 29 percent and 22 percent, respectively, from last year.
“Bidding wars are heating up in Boston,” says Redfin agent Adam Welling. “The difference this year is that competition has spread. With inventory so low, homebuyers are expanding their search, and neighborhoods that didn’t have multiple offers last year are now seeing heavy competition.”
Anticipating this competition, home sellers are increasingly negotiating to rent their homes back from buyers for several months to give themselves time to compete for their next home. In fact, 63 percent of agents say they have seen more home sellers negotiating these rent-backs than last year.
“In this competitive market, it is very challenging to sell a home and buy a new one without becoming temporarily homeless,” says Redfin Northern Virginia agent Jeremy Cunningham. “For buyers, being sensitive to this challenge, or even offering a rent-back agreement upfront, can help their offer stand out.”
Redfin agents say the cold winter affected buyer activity. In the Midwest and the Northeast, where winter temperatures and snow were the most extreme, 48 percent and 39 percent of agents, respectively, say the weather hurt buyer activity “a lot.”
Among agents surveyed, 47 percent of those in the Northeast and 39 percent in the Midwest expect the spring buying season to be “much more competitive” than last year.
Ninety percent of agents cited “low inventory” as a challenge for buyers, down slightly from 96 percent in the first quarter of 2013. “Multiple offers” was indicated as a key challenge by 81 percent of agents, up notably from 65 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 but down from 96 percent in the first quarter of 2013.
When describing the balance of power in the market, agents agree that it is a seller’s market. Across all markets, around half of agents say that “sellers have a little more power than buyers.” In the West, 38 percent of agents believe that “sellers have all the power” compared with 24 percent in the Midwest.
Redfin agents say that home sellers are negotiating rent-back agreements “a little more often” (41%) and “much more often” (22%) than last year.
Frigid temperatures put buyer demand on ice this winter, Redfin agents say. In the Midwest and the Northeast, 48 percent and 39 percent say the weather hurt buyer demand “a lot.”
This survey was conducted between March 17 and 20, and survey respondents included 435 agents from Redfin and outside brokerages. Respondents spanned 26 metropolitan markets in the U.S., including West: Denver, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle; South: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Northern Virginia, Raleigh, San Antonio, Washington, D.C.; Midwest: Chicago, Minneapolis; Northeast: Boston, Long Island, Philadelphia, Providence, RI
