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Ready, Set, Bid! Competition Heats Up in June

House fo Sale Two BHIn June 2016 the fastest, most competitive housing market was witnessed since 2009, according to a report from Redfin. For the typical home, the average length of time for it to go under contract was a reported 41 days. Redfin remarks that this is the shortest time seen since the company began tracking the market in 2009. Additionally, this length was four days shorter than last June. It was also shown that 25.9 percent of homes went off the market in only two weeks. This was an increase from 22.6 percent from last year.

The average sale-to-list price ratio hit 95.5, the highest level Redfin has reported seeing. This year's speed and competition have been driven by an increasing mismatch between supply and demand for homes. In contrast, inventory has dropped 7.1 percent year over year. Home sales on the other hand have increased 4.3 percent from this time last year, lowering months of supply down to 2.8 months. Redfin states that this is the metric's lowest-recorded level and indicates that buyer demand outstripped supply by the widest margin Redfin has ever tracked.

When asked what the second half of the year will bring, Chief Economist for Nela Richardson said, "It all depends on sellers. Buyers have held up their end of the market, spurred by very low mortgage rates. But the lack of new listings continues to crimp overall activity, meaning that there'd be more sales if there were more people selling."

Several housing markets are also reaching new competitive milestones of their own. For example, Denver has half of all its homes pending in just six days which is a decrease from nine days observed in the previous year. For Seattle and Portland, Oregon there was a tie for the next fastest markets showing a median of eight days on market. Seattle also has one month of housing supply which is followed by Denver who has 1.2 months of supply.

"Now that most Denver real estate agents have been navigating this tight-inventory, competitive market for a solid two years, a rhythm has emerged and just about every Redfin hot home that hits the market here follows it," said Redfin agent Michelle Ackerman in Denver. "Homes are listed on Thursday, with a deadline for offers on Monday; many homes are technically under contract by Monday but that status is often not reflected in the MLS until Tuesday. So homes are actually selling even faster than reported."

About Author: Kendall Baer

Kendall Baer is a Baylor University graduate with a degree in news editorial journalism and a minor in marketing. She is fluent in both English and Italian, and studied abroad in Florence, Italy. Apart from her work as a journalist, she has also managed professional associations such as Association of Corporate Counsel, Commercial Real Estate Women, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Project Management Institute for Association Management Consultants in Houston, TX. Born and raised in Texas, Kendall now works as the online editor for DS News.
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