Competition in the Mid-Atlantic housing market remains fierce, with 57% of homes receiving multiple offers.
Sellers may be feeling pressured in many parts of the U.S. housing market, but not everywhere. Competition remains in the Mid-Atlantic.
According to Bright MLS’ first quarter agent survey, 57% of homes across our service area received multiple offers. That’s down from nearly two-thirds a year ago, suggesting competition among buyers is slowly cooling, but not collapsing.
Sellers may soon face a new reality
With increased inventory, things are starting to change. Bright MLS said that even though sellers continue to maintain an advantage in many areas, buyers are gaining more time to make decisions and increasing their leverage in negotiations.
Competition remained fiercest in the single-family home segment, with 61.6% of homes attracting multiple bids. This compares to 54.6 percent for townhomes and 41.4 percent for condos.
And where competition exists, pricing power will follow. Homes that received multiple offers had a 41.2 percent chance of selling for above list price. In comparison, only 12.5 percent of homes received one offer.
“While home sellers continued to dominate in the first quarter, there is evidence that the market is shifting,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, told Inman in an email. “Rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty are keeping some buyers back, while inventory continues to grow.”
Lisa Sturtevant
Sturtevant said sellers in popular areas will still see multiple offers, but in general, these situations are likely to become fewer in the coming months. “Sellers need to price more strategically and be prepared for greater negotiations with buyers,” she said.
Philadelphia takes lead in bidding war amid supply crunch
Competition for single-family homes is intensifying due to persistent inventory shortages. As of the end of March, there were just over 20,700 single-family homes for sale across the Bright MLS service area, approximately two-thirds of March 2020 levels.
This disparity stands in sharp contrast to other property types. Townhome inventory in March 2026 was 7% higher than pre-pandemic levels, and condo supply expanded even more significantly, increasing 34% from March 2020.
The Bright MLS service area spans three major cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC, but market conditions vary widely between cities. The Philadelphia region stands out as the most competitive, with 63.9% of homes receiving multiple offers, well above rates in other submarkets.
The intensity in Philadelphia is being driven by deepening inventory shortages. By the end of March, the total number of active properties in metro Philadelphia was just 57 percent of its March 2020 level. The gap is even more pronounced in the single-family home segment, where inventory remains just 41 percent of pre-pandemic supply.
With so few options on the market, buyers in Philadelphia are facing more competition, giving sellers in the area a distinct advantage.
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