As we’ve discussed recently in some of our posts, we’re seeing people engage in multiple offer situations and over bidding on houses again. According to a recent survey conducted by Trulia and Harris Interactive, 1 in 3 buyers or roughly 33% of people are willing to bid higher than a homes asking price in an effort to win. A really shocking statistic is that 1 in 4 said they would offer to pay a SELLERS closing costs. If that’s not a sign that that we’re transitioning away from a dominant buyers market, then I don’t know what is.

“Tight inventory means slim pickings for buyers. Even though inventory is starting to expand, and rising home prices should bring more for-sale homes onto the market, people who actually want to buy within the next year are feeling the pressure of competing buyers and limited inventory,” wrote Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko in a recent blog post about the survey. This survey may have been done nationally but this is the direction the Central Florida/Orlando Real Estate Market is headed. This survey also pointed out that consumers who said they might soon purchase indicated that their greatest two fears are mortgage rates and home prices rising.

What I like most in this survey was that more than 60% of respondents indicated that they still believe homeownership is still one of the best long-term investments. This is a great improvement from where we were two years ago at only 47%.