45% of prospective buyers keep getting outbid

A majority of house hunters say it’s not prices that are keeping them out of the housing market—it’s other buyers. 45% of prospective buyers recently surveyed say they keep getting outbid by other offers, according to a new survey from the National Association of Home Builders. The NAHB says this is only the third time in the survey’s history that the top reason prospective buyers have been unsuccessful has not been due to finding a home at an affordable price.

In the third quarter, 66% of active home buyers say they’ve spent three months or more searching for a home without success.

Source: National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog

Bidding wars hit lowest level of 2021

Only 58.9% of home offers faced competition in September, the lowest level for 2021 so far, according to a market index produced by Redfin based on offers written by its agents. That’s down from a peak of 74.3% in April. September also marked the fifth consecutive month of declines in bidding wars.

Still, homes are selling quickly: 86% of homes sold in September were on the market for less than a month, according to the National Association of REALTORS® latest housing report. About 33% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within just one week of being listed on the market.

45% of homes sold at or above list price, up from 22% in 2019.