Housing inventories aren’t being replenished fast enough for home shoppers. As a result, they’re finding fewer and fewer home choices.
At the end of December 2020, housing inventory was 23% lower than a year earlier and sitting at an all-time low of 1.9-month supply at the current sales pace, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The housing markets with the lowest inventory in the third quarter of 2020 were:
- Austin, Texas: 0.7-month supply
- San Diego: 0.9-month supply
- Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.: 1.1-month supply
- Wichita, Kan.: 1.1-month supply
- Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif.: 1.2-month supply
On the other hand, buyers found the most choices in the following housing markets, which had the greatest housing supply during last year’s third quarter:
- Duchess and Putnam County, N.Y.: 6.6-month supply
- Binghamton, N.Y.: 5.5-month supply
- New York City metro area: 5.3-month supply
- Farmington, N.M.: 4.7-month supply
- Pittsfield, Mass.: 4.4-month supply
- Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.: 4.2 -onth supply
While overall housing supplies remain tight, more potential sellers may opt to list their homes soon. Bidding wars have grown commonplace as buyers scramble for a limited number of homes for sale. That is “likely to spur (other) owners to list their homes for sale,” Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at the title company First American, told Homes.com. “As a vaccine successfully rolls out and the economy improves, existing homeowners who were hesitant to sell amidst the worst of the pandemic will be encouraged to use the equity they’ve built up in their homes to move out and move up.”
Source: “2021 Housing Inventories: Will They Run Out?” Homes.com (Jan. 19, 2021)
