A reader emailed me, " I've noticed several sell like 100.1% and stuff like that. I figured small bidding wars go on. it doesn't surprise me --
I got caught (off-guard) in a little bidding war recently on camino miraval so..."
Off-guard is right. Bidding wars in 2008, come on.
And if there are, how many bidding wars could there be these days.
Unfortunately there's really no way to tell. Because bidding wars, or multiple offers in Realtor® lingo, are not reported in the MLS or anywhere, (that I know of) except maybe on the grapevine.
So looking for some clue of bidding war activity, sounds goofy just saying it, I looked up how many homes have sold at or above list price this year. And while it's not conclusive, homes that are selling at list, and particularly those selling above list, should offer some indication of bidding wars. And I'm sure there are some exceptions, but why else would someone pay full price or more for a house these days.
Even the most resolute seller will come down some little bit off their price, except when there's a bidding war, then the gloves come off.
Since January 1st, of the 367 single family homes that have sold in the Tucson Foothills, 45 of them sold at or above list price.
That's 12%.
And those 45 sales are spread pretty evenly from $200,000 all the way up to $1,600,000. Above $1.6 there are fewer, but still a few 100% sales. And the above list price sales are not limited to just a teeny .2 or .5% above list. Buyers paid from 101% up to 106.38% of list price.
And aside from those 100% or above list price sales, I'm sure there are other homes that sold for less than list price, but were also the result of bidding wars. Somebody just folded before the pot got to 100%.
So while they're not exactly common, if you get caught in a bidding war, try not to get caught off-guard. It happens, even now.
see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
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