If you want to know how likely a listing is to end up in a bidding war, try to find out how many buyers have scheduled showings to see it. A lot of showings means a lot of interested buyers. It also means the home is likely to get multiple offers and an amount over the seller’s asking price. The same concept applies when looking at the overall housing market. After all, showings, for obvious reasons, are a good gauge of buyer interest. So you can get a good feel for where the market might be headed by looking at the number of showings scheduled during any given time period. For example, according to one recent analysis, showing activity fell in August, dropping 10.7 percent year over year. The decline was led by an 18 percent drop in the Northeast and a 9.2 percent drop in the West. Of course, the market typically slows down as the summer market ends, but a drop in showings is also an indication that hopeful fall home buyers can expect to see less competition and fewer bidding wars when out shopping for a house to buy. (source)
