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Homebuying competition drops near pandemic-era low, Redfin reports

With affordability issues still turning many buyers away from the market, competition continues to dwindle, according to new data from Redfin.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, only 44.3% of offers written by Redfin agents faced competition from other would-be buyers in July. That’s down from 63.8% in July 2021 and 50.9% in June 2022, marking the sixth straight monthly decline for multiple-offer scenarios.

July’s share of offers that faced competition is the second-lowest share recorded by the national real estate brokerage in the COVID-19 pandemic era. Only April 2020, when the emergence of the virus ground the housing market to a screeching halt, had a lower percentage. And the typical home that had competition received 3.5 offers in July, down from 4.1 offers a month earlier and well below the 5.3 offers of one year ago.

“The market is wildly different than it was a few months ago,” said Alexis Malin, a Redfin real estate agent in Jacksonville. “Buyers are competing with one to two other offers instead of four to eight. Some aren’t facing competition at all.

“There’s not the same sense of urgency,” Malin added. “House hunters are scheduling tours four days in advance instead of one, and they’re becoming much more selective. If a home doesn’t check all of their boxes, they’re waiting until they find one that does. Six months ago, buyers were taking any house they could get.”

As properties start to linger on the market for longer, the scales have begun tipping in buyers’ favor. There’s a long way to go before a buyer’s market could be declared, but some sellers have started reducing prices to entice demand. Approximately 8% of market listings each week are experiencing price cuts, the highest percentage on record.

“Buyers have also started writing offers for less than sellers’ list prices — a reversal from the height of the pandemic, when homes were going for tens of thousands of dollars over asking,” Malin said. “I haven’t written an over-asking offer in a month.”

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