Redfin report shows bidding wars are easing up in Seattle area
A Redfin report published Monday found 59.5% of home offers in the Seattle area faced a bidding war in July, down from 71.8% in June.
The significant drop in Seattle-area bidding wars is good news for homebuyers, many of whom have felt the pressure from increased buying competition due to low interest rates and increased freedom to move during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Competition has started to slow in the last three weeks. We’re now seeing five to eight offers on homes instead of 25, and they’re coming in $5,000 to $10,000 above the listing price instead of $50,000 to $60,000,” Scott Mercer, a Redfin real estate agent in Sacramento, said in a statement. “Buyers are pushing back. They’ve even started including appraisal contingencies again and making requests for repairs — things that were pretty much unheard of last year.”
The report defined a bidding war if an agent received at least one competing bid.
Seattle's bidding war rate is still up from a year ago, as 57.7% of homes in the area faced a bidding war in July 2020. But the rate of competition has cooled significantly from previous months in 2021. A previous Redfin report found 73.8% of Seattle-area home offers faced a bidding war in January. Redfin also reported 79% of Seattle-area home offers faced a bidding war in April.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/08/16/redfin-report-bidding-wars-cooled-down.html