Contingencies Rising

Another sign that buyers have more power in real estate going into the spring season in 2019 than in 2018 is the rise of the home sale contingency.

More winning offers now include a clause making the sale contingent on the sale of the buyer's previous home, allowing the buyer to time their own home sale with their new home purchase, and make sure that they have the funds available to close without having to balance two mortgages. The share of successful offers including a sale contingency, written by Redfin agents, grew 7.1 percent in February 2019, representing a five-month high, and more than 2 percent annual growth.

“Buyers who are including a home sale contingency in their offer now are moving because they want to, not so much because they have to,” explained Redfin agent Ashley Skiratko. “The buyers’ mindset is ‘We really like this specific home and we would move for this home. We only want to list our home if we know this home we offer on is ours. We aren’t moving if our offer isn’t accepted.’”

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