Redfin Said Nearly Seven in 10 Homes for May Had Competing Bids

Nearly 70% of all home offers written in May by Redfin’s real estate agents faced competing bids, according to its most recent Bidding War report. Company agents wrote 2,000 offers during the month.

This is down from April, when 73% of home offers written had a competing bid, but up marginally from the over 69% seen in May 2012.

Redfin said the reduction in offers on a month-to-month basis is because of a substantial increase in sales inventory during April, a gain of 6.4% from the inventory levels in March.

Another factor could have been rising interest rates, Redfin said. But most mortgage industry observers note consumers typically do not make a decision to purchase a home just based on rising rates.

California was where the top most competitive markets in May were located: San Francisco, where 88% of the Redfin offers had a competing bid; Los Angeles, 86%; Orange County, 84%; and San Diego, 73%. Boston was fifth at 68%.

However, San Diego and Orange County also showed the biggest declines on a month-to-month basis in offers with multiple bids, down 16% and 10% respectively.

Redfin also said 49% of the winning offers were for an amount higher than the asking price, down from April’s 52%.