The Housing Market is Running on Half the Usual Inventory

Today's housing market paints a stark contrast to what many are used to witnessing. Inventory levels are a mere shadow of their former selves, with only half of what one might consider a "normal" amount of homes available for sale. Several factors contribute to this dwindling supply. A surge in demand driven by historically low mortgage rates has seen many potential buyers entering the market, ready to purchase their dream homes. At the same time, homeowners are holding onto their properties longer due to economic uncertainties and the potential of further home value appreciation. Moreover, construction delays and supply chain disruptions, partly resultant from global events, have slowed down the addition of new homes to the market. This perfect storm of heightened demand and stunted supply has left us navigating a housing landscape with scarcely half the inventory we'd expect under typical circumstances.

Wondering if it still makes sense to sell your house right now? The short answer is, yes. Especially if you consider how few homes there are for sale today.

You may have heard inventory is low right now, but you may not fully realize just how low or why that’s a perk when you go to sell your house. This graph from Calculated Risk can help put that into perspective: 

As the graph shows, while housing inventory did grow slightly week-over-week (shown in the blue bar), overall supply is still low (shown in the red bars). Compared to the same week last year, supply is down roughly 10% – and it was already considered low at that time. But, if you look further back, you’ll see inventory is down even more significantly.

To gauge just how far off from normal today’s inventory is, let’s compare right now to 2019 (the last normal year in the market). When you compare the same week this year with the matching week in 2019, supply is about 50% lower. That means there are half the homes for sale now than there’d usually be.

The key takeaway? We’re still nowhere near what’s considered a balanced market. There’s plenty of demand for your house because there just aren’t enough homes to go around. As Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), explains:

“There are simply not enough homes for sale. The market can easily absorb a doubling of inventory.”

So, if you want to list your house, know that there’s only about half the inventory there’d usually be in a more normal year. That means your house will be in the spotlight if you sell now and you may see multiple offers and a fast home sale. 

Bottom Line

With the number of homes for sale roughly half of what there’d usually be in a more normal year, you can rest assured there’s demand for your house. If you want to sell, let’s connect now so your house can shine above the rest while inventory is so low.

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