West Coast Buyers are Now More Likely to Win the 1st Home They Bid On

San Jose, Seattle and San Diego Saw Big Year-Over-Year Gains in the Share of Homebuyers Winning the First Home They Make an Offer on

SEATTLE, April 16, 2019 -- Fifty-six percent of buyers nationwide who purchased a home in the first quarter closed on the very first home they made an offer on, according to a report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage. This is up from 52 percent a year earlier, and is the highest first-offer success rate in three years.

The report is based on an analysis of home offer and purchase data from thousands of people who bought homes with Redfin agents nationwide over the past five years.

The biggest year-over-year increases in first-offer success rates were seen in some of the West Coast markets that were uber-competitive last year. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of people who purchased a home in the San Jose metro area in the first quarter of 2019 successfully purchased the first home they made an offer on. A year earlier, only 25 percent of San Jose homebuyers successfully purchased the first home they made an offer on.

More than half (53%) of San Diego homebuyers last quarter closed on the home that was the first one they bid on, up from 38 percent a year earlier. In Seattle, the first-offer success rate increased to 59 percent last quarter, up from 45 percent in the same period last year.

"Last year homebuyers had to pull out all the stops to land a home in competitive West Coast markets, but this year there are more homes for sale and the odds are more in the buyer's favor," said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. "In San Jose, the market has dramatically slowed from a year ago, and it's actually now easier to get an offer accepted in San Jose than in many other parts of the country."

San Jose now has the second-highest first-offer success rate in the nation, behind Charlotte (70%).

Below is a ranking by first-offer success rate of the 25 largest metro areas Redfin agents serve:

Not every market is moving in buyers' favor. In San Antonio, Austin and Phoenix, the first-offer success rate fell from over 50 percent last year to under 50 percent this year. Both Austin and Phoenix were top migration destinations in the latest Redfin Migration Report. Austin and San Antonio saw the largest decreases in the nation, each falling 12 points. As more people continue to move to affordable inland markets, buyers in those areas can expect to encounter more competition in their search for a home.

To view the full report, complete with additional charts and insights, please click here.

About Redfin

Redfin is a technology-powered real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry's lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 85 major metro areas across the U.S. and Canada. The company has closed more than $85 billion in home sales.