The heated bidding wars among would-be homeowners are cooling — but the housing market is still hot, according to new data from real estate firm Redfin.
That’s because 59.5% of all offers to buy a home in November faced competition, defined as at least one competing bid. That’s the lowest level in 11 months, according to data published Dec. 17, 2021. That’s down from 61.8% of offers in October and from a Covid-19 pandemic peak of 74.6% in April.
It is, however, up slightly from the 57.3% seen in November 2020, according to Redfin, which began tracking competition data in April 2020, when 45.1% of home offers faced competition.
The housing market still remains hot more than 18 months into the pandemic, in part because of extremely low inventory and record-low mortgage rates, but the drop in competition shows that some seasonality is returning to the market. Buyers typically take a break during the winter as the year winds down, according to Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.
But low inventory has continued to push median housing prices higher, according to related data from Redfin. The number of homes for sale across the country fell to 538,695, the lowest number during November since Redfin began tracking the data in 2012. That is down 26% over 2020 and down from the 967,199 for sale during November 2019.
That has helped push the median sale price of homes to $360,375, up 14% over the same time last year and up 31% over November in 2019, according to Redfin.
But experts see a less frenzied housing market in 2022, according to forecasts released by some of the country’s biggest real estate services firms. Homes will continue to go up in price but not at the same rate seen since 2021, according to a report by Real Estate Editor Ashley Fahey.
