Bidding wars have slumped says Redfin

Despite hopes that the spring housing market will produce some strength amid low mortgage rates and continued demand, a new survey suggests it is so far less competitive than a year ago.

Redfin says that in the first three weeks of March just 16% of offers written by its agents faced a bidding war; in the same period of 2018, 61% did. The record low was in December 2018 (12%).

San Francisco, Boston, San Diego and Portland, Oregon are the most competitive housing markets in March, all with about one in five offers facing competition. However, each of these markets saw over 65% of offers face competition during the same period of 2018.

"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."

Least competitive
The least competitive housing markets so far in March are Miami (5%), Dallas (8%) and Houston (9%) with all three markets slipping into single figures with competition for at least 26% of offers the same time last year