Bidding Behaviour In The Residential Real Estate Sector

The paper explores time on the market for single family residential units in Northern Ireland with specific reference to the bidding behaviour of purchasers between 2002 and 2008. It is a period of dramatic change in the Northern Ireland housing market combining unprecedented growth of house prices in 2006 and the early part of 2007 with the beginning of a period of slowdown and market equalisation in 2007 and the early part of 2008. This paper will present analysis on time on the market for the properties but the main focus will be bidding trends. Using a dataset of individual transaction histories of residential sales from 2002 to 2008 the peculiarities of bidding behaviour are investigated. The detailed analysis of two case study areas (one inner city and one outer city) allows a comparison of how bidding patterns change according to location, the stage of property cycle, seasonality and by property type. The bidding process is further examined by focussing on the winning bidder. The time at which the winning bidder becomes involved and particular bidding behaviours are highlighted. The paper concludes with a summary of conclusions and findings regarding bidding behaviour in the single family residential market.