Use the recent sale pace and pricing reality to choose terms that hold up
You are trying to decide whether to write aggressively on the first home you like or wait for a better opening. My rule in Santa Monica, CA right now is simple plan for competition unless the home has clear staying power, because recent offers landed around 100.3% of asking last month on typical sales.
If you only remember one closed data point right now, make it this recent offers in Santa Monica, CA landed at about 100.3% of asking last month, and a typical sale took 34 days. Supply also measured 3.42 months last month, which matters because it frames how quickly good options get absorbed when they are priced to the market. That matters because pricing power shows up in the gap between asking and the final number, and 100.3% tells me many homes did not need a discount to get to the finish line. Some metrics were not reported for this period. Even so, the combination of 3.42 months of supply and a 34-day typical timeline is enough for me to set expectations you can still be selective, but you cannot be casual about readiness. Get your decision filters tight before you tour focus on homes you would still buy if you had to act fast, because the recent pace does not reward indecision. Build an offer that matches the reality of a 100.3% sell-through versus asking by choosing clean, clear terms you can actually perform on. If you want negotiating room, target listings that already show time risk relative to the 34-day typical timeline, then use that extra time on market to ask for the specific concessions you need instead of guessing.
