Welcome to the Front Porch. Here you will find relative content regarding real estate trends, interesting finds, as well as useful information for your real estate journey. 

According to NAR (National Association of Realtors), there were 1.07 million homes for sale as of 12/31/2020. If we go back two years, there were 1.53 million homes for sale as of 12/31/2018. And if we go back to 12/31/2010, there were 3.02 million homes for sale nationwide. 

So, what is going on? In a word, well a few, COVID and historically low interest rates. The pandemic has forced families to reevaluate how they live and where they live. Many are choosing to stay in their existing home and refinance due to the low rates. Others, realizing that working from home may be here longer than we all originally anticipated, have determined they need more space for the family to function under our new normal. Couple all of this with national homebuilders who still have a memory of 2008-2011 and you can understand why inventory is low in areas that typically have an abundance to satisfy the buying public. 

We are talking about Texas relocation hotspots such as Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Houston has a 2.3 month supply of housing inventory. Meaning, if not one additional home hit the market for sale, the region would run out of homes to sell in about 80 days per the Greater Houston Partnership Research. Moreover, locations along the east and west coasts where resales typically drive the market are seeing bidding wars as inventory remains at historic lows. One community I follow closely is Ladera Ranch, CA. This is a town comprised of 8500 households. As of this writing, there are only 17 homes on the market per the Southern California Regional MLS. One percent of the total households listed would be a healthy, equitable market. So, this market’s available inventory of homes to sell is 80% BELOW where it should be. 

This is truly a national seller’s bull market. But, it is not as bleak for buyers as that may sound. Rates remain incredibly low and we are expecting an increase in springtime inventory when the traditional home selling season begins. Buyers should be patient and remember that if they miss out on one home, there will be another to help them solve their current problem.