Bidding wars on the rise in Seattle neighborhoods

With tighter inventories of homes for sale, Puget Sound area buyers are finding increased competition through bidding wars.

In some Seattle neighborhoods, two of three new listings have been receiving more than one offer, brokers report. However, activity is even stronger elsewhere.

“The only question is not whether a new listing will get multiple bids but how many it will get,” Kris Vogt, who manages Coldwell Banker offices in the Sacramento area, told CNNMoney.

For example, a home in Elk Grove, Calif., reportedly received 62 separate bids, with the final sales price more than $150,000 above its $129,000 asking price.

In Cambridge, Mass., real estate brokers stopped accepting bids after the tally reached 250 bids for two condos listed at $800,000 each. The two condos ended up selling together for $2 million.

Seventy-five percent of real estate agents with Seattle-based brokerage Redfin surveyed in March say their clients have faced multiple-bid situations for properties – up from 56 percent in late 2011.

Bidding wars appear to be most prevalent in California. Ninety percent of homes sold in San Francisco, Sacramento, and throughout Southern California saw multiple bids during the month, CNNMoney reported. What’s more, at least two-thirds of listings in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York had bidding wars for homes, too.