The share of agents who think now is a good time to sell fell in the fourth quarter of 2013, dropping to 65 percent from 72 percent in the third quarter, according to Redfin. The broker’s Real-Time Agent Sentiment Survey points to a downward slide in agents’ confidence in sellers’ prospects that began after the share of agents who said “now is a good time to sell” peaked at 86 percent in the second quarter of 2013.
Meanwhile, the share of agents who said limited inventory is one of the most common challenges for buyers in their market remained flat at 87 percent compared to the previous quarter, but was still down from 96 percent in the first quarter of 2013.
That coincided with a drop in the proportion of agents who said competition from bidding wars, a symptom of tight inventory, was a common challenge for buyers. The share of agents who cited bidding wars as a difficulty fell to 65 percent from 79 percent in the third quarter. In the first quarter of 2013, 96 percent of respondents cited bidding wars as a common challenge.