Just ask a buyer or investor and they would tell you it’s the market’s surprisingly low inventory.

The reason is because where numbers show an optimistic indication of the market, such as rising home prices and low mortgage rates, nationwide inventory has been declining year after year, despite the positive start to home buying season this spring.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced earlier this year that the number of American homes for sale had reached a low not seen since 1999. Consequently, buyers and investors feel the need to act fast by looking for “awesome deals” for fear there may be slim pickings.

According to Realtor.com’s data for April, homes were on the market for approximately 81 days nationwide.

It’s understandable. After six years of being on the sidelines, new homebuyers are pretty anxious about investing in a home of their own. Not only are properties flying off the shelves like hot potatoes (sometimes within days) but Sellers are also anxious of putting their homes on the market.

Additionally, limited inventory has even lead to the return of bidding wars between potential homebuyers and sellers, enough so that it’s possible that assume some buyers are being “manipulated” into overbidding, according to a recent article by TIME magazine.

Although bidding markets vary and are mostly seen on the West Coast, we may have reached a point where the Sellers are more realistic about the listing price and buyers have realized that they can’t low ball anymore.