The latest industry reports are showing housing prices on the rise, and it has made more sellers want to raise their asking price, according to industry insiders.

Shrinking inventories of for-sale homes with pent-up demand is allowing sellers to charge about 5 percent more than they could have just six months ago, Everett King, president of ERA King Real Estate in Birmingham, Ala., told USA Today.

Real estate companies are reporting that sellers are having more luck with their higher asking prices, too. For example, in Tucson, Ariz., home sellers are getting 96 percent of their asking price on average, USA Today reports.

Still, others caution that sellers can’t get too unrealistic with their price expectations. The economy is still sluggish and unemployment is still high. Plus, Stan Humphries, Zillow.com’s chief economist, cautions that a shortage of lower-price homes for sale in many markets may be inflating asking prices.

Source: “Is Case-Shiller Home Sales Index Falling Behind the Times?” USA Today (Aug. 26, 2012)