Ideally, the number of homes for sale would be equal to the number of interested home buyers. After all, an equally balanced housing market would mean no competition, no bidding wars, and no threat of spiking home prices. Unfortunately, though, that’s not how it works. And so, there are times when there are few buyers and more than enough homes and other times when there aren’t enough homes to satisfy buyer demand. In today’s market, inventory is low. The number of available homes for sale was already lower than normal to start the year and the pandemic only made things worse. How much worse? Well, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, inventory was down 36 percent in August year-over-year. And while there are some areas – like Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Orlando – where active listings are down as little as 11 percent, there are others that have seen inventory drop as much as 55.9 percent. In short, it’s a seller’s market and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future. That means, hopeful home buyers need to be prepared to act fast when they find a home that fits their needs. (source)
