Reduced Housing Inventory Creates More Multiple Offers

It just seems like a few months ago there was an abundance of available properties with many offers being accepted at less than asking price. Well those days appear to be a thing of the past at least for now, unless you want to live in Lancaster or Palmdale.
Currently housing inventories are very low in many areas of Southern California with the more desirable properties receiving multiple offers. The big question is how will this affect housing prices in the long term. The last few months we've already seen a slight increase in prices. However home prices should remain stable for a while unless reduced inventories remain for an extended period of time. If inventories remain low it could cause accepted offers to become larger than the appraised value. When this event does occur, the buyer financially has to make up the difference or the seller has to reduce the selling price to meet the appraised value.
The real key to having your offer accepted is to make sure that it is high enough, but not over its appraised value. To help insure you have the greatest opportunity to having your offer accepted you should employ a real estate agent that understands the fluctuating housing market.
Lets just hope that the forecasters are correct and the flood gates will open soon resulting in properties flowing into the marketplace.