Picture this: you find a house you like, make an offer, and nobody else shows up. Texas bidding wars are fading fast, and according to the 2026 Texas Realtors Homebuying Experience Report, 69% of surveyed Realtors said their buyer clients did not compete against another offer, as reported by WRE News. A year ago, that number was 57%.
Realtor.com ran a story on the shift under the headline “Bidding Wars Fade Across Texas as Most Buyers Face Zero Opponents,” listed on its Yahoo brand page. We could not open that article, so the figures here come from the Texas Realtors survey coverage. One more caution: the survey asks Realtors about their clients. It is not a count of every sale in the state.
This shift also fits a wider national pattern, since U.S. home deals are falling apart at the highest rate in nearly three years as buyers gain leverage.
What the Texas Realtors survey found on homebuyer competition
The jump from 57% to 69% is a big swing in a single year. Nearly one-third of Realtors also said their most recent successful buyer bought after making only one offer.
That is a long way from the days of waiving inspections and writing love letters to sellers (remember those?). Texas homebuyer competition has clearly cooled.
Texas Realtors Chairman Jennifer Wauhob put it plainly: “Buyers are benefiting from more choices and more time to make decisions, but many are facing affordability challenges.”
Why Texas bidding wars are cooling
Sellers are adjusting. A Redfin agent in Austin said most sellers now understand it’s a buyer’s market and are pricing accordingly. Redfin’s July ranking put Houston as the state’s strongest buyer’s market, followed by San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth. Sellers there are cutting prices and offering concessions, partly to compete with new construction. That is how a Texas buyer’s market takes shape.
So who’s winning? Buyers who can take their time, at least on paper.
Here’s the thing: less Texas housing competition is not a cheaper house
Fewer rivals does not mean a smaller bill. Property taxes, insurance and mortgage rates are still squeezing monthly payments, per Texas Realtors. Among Realtors whose clients paused or stopped searching, 34% said homes were simply too expensive. Only 6% blamed too few homes for sale.
That tells you where the real problem sits. Inventory is not the obstacle anymore. The monthly bill is.
Rising insurance costs, Redfin notes, are making Texas buyers even more sensitive to price and rates. Candidates are already pitching fixes, as our rundown of Texas affordability plans on groceries, taxes and homes shows.
Not every Texas neighborhood has gone quiet
The fade is not uniform. Redfin agents say well-priced, move-in-ready homes are still drawing multiple offers. One Dallas agent helped two buyers win homes that went into bidding wars in Plano.
In other words, the right house at the right price still gets chased, while overpriced listings sit and collect price cuts. Even in a cooling market, Texas homebuyer competition survives in pockets.
For buyers, the takeaway is simple: you have leverage, but you have to use it. Ask for concessions. Compare new construction against resale. Don’t assume your dream home will come with a crowd.
So the question for sellers is whether lower competition finally pushes prices down, or just stretches out the wait for a bite.
