When there are more home buyers than there are homes for sale, prices rise. Mostly, that’s because buyers have to compete with each other for available homes by offering to pay more than the seller is asking. But while competition and bidding wars are good for home sellers, it can cause stress for buyers. That’s why home shoppers in today’s market need to be prepared. In most metros, buyer demand is high while the inventory of homes for sale is low. That means, a lot of hopeful home buyers are facing competition. So how likely is it that you will? Well, according to one recent analysis, 53.7 percent of buyers faced a bidding war in June, which is up from 44.4 percent in April. Of course, how likely you are to find competition depends on where you’re looking and what you’re looking to buy. For example, buyers in Boston, San Diego, and Salt Lake City were almost twice as likely to face bidding wars than buyers in Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Tampa. Similarly, buyers of single-family homes were more likely to face competition than those looking for townhouses or condos. (source)
