Home Offers Still Facing Competition

More often than not, you still can’t put an offer on a home without someone else making a competing offer.

For the sixth month in a row, more than half of home sales have been the subjects of bidding wars, according to a new report released by Redfin on its properties. In October, 56.8 percent of Redfin offers on homes in the United States faced competition – down from a peak of 59.3 percent in August.

“Has the market calmed down since the summer? Yes, but every offer I submit still faces multiple competing bids and we continue to see a lot more buyers than we normally would at this time of year,” said Melissa Killham, a Redfin real estate agent in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “The typical home today gets four or five offers, compared with eight or nine back in September. The buyers who are in the market right now don’t need to buy. They’re buying if they find the perfect home with more space and a big backyard, and if not, they’re staying put until they do.”

At least half of offers faced bidding wars in 16 of 24 metropolitan areas in the report, with Salt Lake City facing the highest bidding-war rate (75 percent) with Las Vegas facing the least (38.2 percent).

Here is a look at each of the markets:

Share of Redfin offers that faced bidding wars in October 2020Share of Redfin offers that faced bidding wars in September 2020
Salt Lake City, UT75.0%83.3%
San Diego, CA73.2%71.6%
San Francisco / San Jose, CA69.6%67.8%
Austin, TX68.4%60.1%
Washington, D.C.65.7%66.3%
Sacramento, CA60.8%60.9%
Seattle, WA60.7%60.2%
Minneapolis, MN59.4%63.9%
Portland, OR59.4%63.3%
Los Angeles, CA58.9%59.7%
Philadelphia, PA58.5%56.7%
Boston, MA56.4%56.7%
Phoenix, AZ54.2%58.5%
Denver, CO54.1%50.8%
Tampa, FL51.2%26.3%
Dallas, TX50.3%50.5%
Atlanta, GA48.3%49.0%
Raleigh, NC46.8%43.3%
New York, NY45.3%58.5%
Houston, TX44.2%50.0%
Detroit, MI44.1%47.5%
Chicago, IL41.1%42.4%
Miami, FL38.5%38.5%
Las Vegas, NV38.2%47.5%