The winter housing market is typically the slowest of the year. Many prospective home buyers, anticipating the start of the spring sales season, put their plans on hold and wait for warmer weather. But while this winter saw the market slow down a bit, it’s been anything but typical. With the number of homes for sale still much lower than normal, even winter home buyers have encountered a fast-paced market with plenty of competition from other buyers. In fact, one recent analysis covering the four weeks ending February 6 found that 55 percent of homes recently for sale had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market – that’s up from 49 percent in January 2021 and 41 percent in 2020 – and the share of those homes that went under contract within one week climbed to 43 percent, up from 29 percent in 2020. In other words, homes for sale are still selling quickly and buyers need to be prepared to act fast when they find one they want. (source)
