Each home received an average of 4.2 offers, up from 3.5 in 2011. Lower priced homes (typically real estate-owned or short sales) attracted more multiple offers than traditional sales.
Seven of 10 REO sales/short sales received multiple offers, while only half of regular home sales received more than one offer.
California Association of Realtors president LeFrancis Arnold said in a statement that, “The fierce market conditions have forced many buyers to compete with all-cash offers and investors, setting off multiple offers and bidding wars, making it even more difficult for first-time buyers to become homeowners.”
The competitive housing environment led to more properties being sold at or above the list price, with 41% of homes selling without a markdown from the asking price, the highest reading since 2005. (The historical average is 32%, the group said.)
But in what may be bad news for mortgage lenders, 30% of all homebuyers paid for their property with cash in 2012, the grade group reported.
