Nearly 50% of Home Offers Written in December Ended in a Bidding War

Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate brokerage firm is reporting that the traditional year-end slowdown in homebuying did not occur in December 2020. In fact, not only did buying and selling continue, but according to Redfin, 49.7% of the home offers written by its agents involved a bidding war between prospective buyers. Although down from November’s revised rate of 55.9% in November, it was nevertheless eighth consecutive month where nearly half or more of Redfin offers encountered competition. Single-family homes were the most likely property type to attract bidding wars last month, with 53.6% of competitive offers based in this sector. In comparison, 46.1% of townhouse offers and 33.9% of condo offers were subject to bidding wars. In prepared remarks, Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather said, “The housing market is unseasonably hot. It’s behaving like it normally does in the spring, with plenty of demand from homebuyers. Typically, the vast majority of homes for sale in December are homes that have been sitting on the market because they’re overpriced or there’s a problem with the property. This December, with so many Americans moving, scores of desirable homes hit the market—but not enough to satisfy insatiable demand from homebuyers. The result? Fierce bidding wars.”