This is a home sold in Mount Lebanon, Pa., on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Would-be homeowners are increasingly opting to pay sellers more than their asking price in hopes of edging out rivals as heightened competition for few homes on the market fuels bidding wars. About 52% of U.S. homes sold in January 2022, fetched more than their list price, up from 40.2% a year earlier, according to data from Redfin, a national real estate brokerage.
The trend is apparent in some of the nation’s most expensive housing markets. Some 63.2% of homes sold in Los Angeles in January went for more than advertised. In Seattle that jumped to 65.9%. “The housing market was in a frenzy in the beginning of 2022, with buyers competing for a limited supply of homes and sellers reaping the rewards of bid-up prices,” said Taylor Marr, Redfin’s deputy chief economist.Homebuyers face a difficult task navigating the housing market, with the number of homes for sale at record lows, prices rising sharply and average mortgage rates running higher than they were a year ago, and expected to climb further this year.