Redfin: Open houses can help homes sell for more — depending on the market

The average home in America will sell for $9,046 more and spend seven fewer days on the market if it holds an open house in its first week, according to new data.

A recent Redfin analysis of homes listed in 2018 found that homes with open houses tend to sell for more in nearly all cities, but don’t get too excited just yet: a major caveat is that the correlation between open houses and higher prices might not mean causation.

“In many areas, homes that are already primed for competition tend to be the ones with open houses because the listing agent knows it will attract a lot of attention and wants to set up a convenient way for multiple potential buyers to pop in at once instead of making several appointments for private tours,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.

The analysis also reveals vastly different marketing cultures in different metro areas.

“San Francisco real estate culture is dominated by open houses. The majority of my clients attend open houses because they know it’s their best chance to see a competitive property or multiple properties on the same day,” local Redfin agent Miriam Westberg said.

While a full 84% of homes listed in San Francisco and San Jose held an open house in their first week on the market, just about half of Los Angeles home listings did so. Meanwhile, the open house rate was 19% for Chicago and a mere 5% in Miami. The Redfin study had no data for New York City, but found that just 4% of homes listed in Newark last year held an open house, the lowest rate of all cities examined.

While the few homes with open houses in Miami sold an average of 11 days faster than the rest, homes with open houses in San Francisco took a week longer to sell. [Redfin] — Kevin Sun