If you’ve been keeping current on Denver’s housing market, you may think it’s only the Mile High City that is experiencing increased pricing and bidding wars on the little inventory we have. But this is a trend we are actually seeing nationwide. According to data from Redfin, house hunters on the search are increasingly choosing to pay sellers more than their asking price in hopes of edging out rival buyers as more competition fuels bidding wars for a particular property.

By Redfin’s numbers about 52% of U.S. homes sold in January netted more than their list price, up from 40.2% a year earlier. It was the greatest share of homes sold above asking price ever recorded by Redfin, with data going back to February 2012.

And if you think Denver is bad, 63.2% of homes sold in Los Angeles in January went for more than advertised. In Seattle that number jumped to 65.9%.

Unsurprisingly, these bidding wars are pushing home prices higher. The median home price jumped 15.4% in January from a year earlier to $350,300, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Homebuyers face a difficult task navigating the housing market, with the number of homes for sale at record lows, prices rising sharply and average mortgage rates running higher than they were a year ago and expected to climb further this year.

And increasingly, many buyers are going well above a home’s listing price to beat the competition. 5,897 homes in 50 of the biggest U.S. metropolitan areas by population have sold this year for at least $100,000 above their listed price, more than double a year ago, according to a recent report by Redfin.

It’s a challenging market, to be sure, but if you have the right team behind you buying a home in a competitive climate is still doable. Ready to see what’s out there? Contact Metrowest today – we’d love to show you around!