Homebuyer competition fell to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic last month, according to a new Redfin report. 

With the market cooling due to increased inventory, higher mortgage rates, inflation concerns, and more sellers dropping prices, it comes as no surprise that competition is lessening. 

In Houston, 44.1% of offers faced competition last month compared to 52.9% in June and 54.6% a year prior. 

Redfin found that nationally, 44.3% of offers written by its agents had competition last month, compared to June’s 50.9% and last year’s 63.8%, marking the sixth month in a row of declines. July also had the lowest share of home competition on record (except for April 2020), according to the report 

Breaking those numbers down further, a typical home in a bidding war in July had 3.5 offers compared to June’s 4.1 offers and 5.3 offers last year. 

Buyers are taking advantage of these market changes as they find themselves with more options and more room to negotiate. 

Phoenix had the lowest rate of homebuyer competition in July at 26.6%, followed by Riverside, California at 31%, Seattle at 31.5%, Austin at 31.7% and Nashville at 33.3%. 

The highest bidding war rates were found in Raleigh, North Carolina at 63.8%, Honolulu at 63%, Providence, Rhode Island at 60.5%, Philadelphia at 60.4% and Worcester, Massachusetts at 54.8%.