The still-searing housing market has reached such dizzying heights in some regions that many homebuyers are giving up searching altogether, at least until prices come down.
Many would-be buyers “are calling off their search, for reasons that range from an inability to compete financially, to an unwillingness to waive contingencies like an inspection, to a belief the market will cool in time,” the New York Times reports.
Prospective buyers have been resorting to drastic measures like waiving inspections and paying full closing fees in efforts to get a leg up and out-compete other buyers. But in some markets the competition is nearly stratospheric: Buyers in Utah, for instance, recently put an offer for a hour $60,000 over asking price with a waived inspection; among 54 other offers, they “were not even close,” the Times reports.
There are some signs, meanwhile, that the market might be stabilizing, including an increase in housing stock in June.