1 in 5 Buyers in Bidding Wars

According to the latest Redfin data, 16 percent of offers written by its agents for buyers were involved in a bidding war. This time last year, the share was 61 percent.

Bidding wars are on the upswing from the record low 12 percent in December 2018, and the most competitive markets for March were Boston, Portland, Ore., San Diego, and San Francisco. Each of these markets saw more than 65 percent of offers with competition in March 2018. In February, another indicator of market competitiveness, days on market, grew by 2 days annually to a national median of 59 days, the biggest yearly gain since January 2015, and the first February with a year-over-year increase since "at least 2011," according to the report.

“This year even when there is competition among buyers for the same house, prices aren’t bid up as high as they were last summer,” said San Diego Redfin agent Katie Gilbert. “Overall it’s not as chaotic as last year, but buyers still need to move quickly to win homes in the popular areas.“

Even Seattle— a bidding-war hotbed in 2018—still hasn’t seen competition heat up just yet in 2019. Seattle’s rate was 17 percent so far this month, down from 72 percent a year ago.

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