I Know You Know This, But These are RECORD Low Inventory Levels
Scott P. Rogers
I looked back further, and further, and further, and could not find ANY time in the past 10 years when there have been fewer houses listed for sale than there are RIGHT NOW!
And yet, despite the fact that we keep starting off each year with FEWER homes for sale...
...somehow buyers are able to buy pretty much the same number of homes for each of the past three years:
- 2016 = 1313 home sales
- 2017 = 1261 home sales
- 2018 = 1302 home sales
What does this mean? How can it be? Stop making my/your head hurt!?
Well, basically, the inventory level DOES and DOESN'T matter. If 1,000 homes are listed for sale each month in 2019 and 1,000 go under contract and 1,000 sell -- we would have an absolutely outlandish year of sales (12,000 home sales) but inventory would have started and finished at 269 homes for sale.
So -- buyers certainly have fewer choices at any given moment, but as more and more listings come on the market this Spring, they are likely to have more and more choices, though they will be competing against lots of other buyers and the properties are likely to go under contract quickly.
