Tag Archives: Redfin

December's bitterly cold weather kept home shoppers away from the market in December, driving competition down further across most markets. Redfin's most recent Real-Time Bidding Wars report shows 52.0 percent of offers made by the company's agents faced competition last month, down from 52.8 percent in November and 62.4 percent a year earlier.

While many Americans paused their homebuying plans during the federal government's partial shutdown last month, purchase activity rebounded once the government reopened, with buyer competition more robust than expected, according to a Redfin. Out of the 22 markets covered in the brokerage's report, San Diego experienced the biggest increase in multiple-bid offers on homes for sale, while Boston saw the biggest drop.

Homebuyers shook off their fears and returned to the market in force following the re-opening of the government in October, according to data presented by Redfin's Research Center. The online brokerage reported a 58 percent annual increase in the number of interested buyers reaching out to its agents in the week immediately following the resolution of the partial federal government shutdown. The number of clients touring homes and those making offers also grew.

Redfin's Real-Time Bidding Wars report shows 58.3 percent of offers written by Redfin agents across the country faced bidding wars in September, down from 60.5 percent in August. Last September, 62.7 percent of offers faced competing bids. With competition diminishing, Redfin has also observed a fall in the number of homes selling at above asking price. On average across all tracked markets, buyers paid 0.4 percent below asking price (compared to 0.3 percent in August).

For its most recent quarterly report, Redfin surveyed 1,772 active homebuyers across the 22 markets it covers. Respondents hailed from all over the country. Out of those polled, 56 percent said rising rates have impacted their ability to buy a home ""somewhat,"" while an additional 7 percent said rates are impacting them ""a lot."" In addition, more homebuyers pointed to rising mortgage rates as one of their major concerns with buying a home right now.

According to Redfin, ""this July saw a healthy jump in homes sold throughout most of the 19 markets covered in this report,"" improving 3 percent month-over-month and 17.6 percent year-over-year from a rather disappointing July 2012. In fact, Redfin found July 2013 experienced the highest number of homes sold in the past four years, with the 19 markets together seeing about 94,000 sales. While sales numbers picked up, Redfin believes the gains won't last. At the same time, reports on home price growth and inventory were less positive in July.

According to Redfin's Real-Time Demand Pulse for August (using July data), the brokerage's agents continue to report declines in both the number of customers touring homes and the number of signed offers. Both metrics have been on a downward slope since peaking in April. ""Although there are finally more homes for sale to satisfy pent-up demand after months of historically low inventory, buyers are not responding,"" said data analyst Tommy Unger, who attributed the decline to buyer fatigue following a cutthroat spring season.

Rising interest rates aren't just a burden for potential homebuyers. According to the latest survey from Redfin, 47 percent of sellers said they are worried about rising rates, expressing concerns that buyer demand will be lowered as a result. The share is up drastically from 23 percent in the previous quarter. Additionally, sellers expressed less interest when considering the option of renting for the first time in four months. In the third quarter of this year, 49 percent said they are considering renting rather than selling, down from 52 percent in the previous quarter and down from 46 percent a year ago.

Eighty-six percent of agents believe prices will rise over the next few months. The same percentage of agents say now is a good time to sell a home. Both of these categories have increased from the first quarter of the year to the second. However, while a majority of agents expect price gains, a minority expect prices to ""rise a lot."" The percent of agents who anticipate prices rising ""a lot"" in coming months fell from 44 percent in the first quarter to just 16 percent in the second quarter, according to Redfin's survey.

Gains in home prices and sales surged in May, while inventory increased for the second straight month, according to Redfin. In May, home prices surged 17.4 percent year-over-year, while prices in all 19 markets tracked showed yearly gains. At the same time, home sales climbed by 15.8 percent from April to May, reaching their highest level since January 2010. Although for-sale housing inventory decreased 21.9 percent year-over-year, Redfin reported inventory inched up by 4.3 percent from April to May.