Top real estate powerhouse Zillow, reported in November that in nearly half a decade, the number of homes available for sale in the market had increased year-over-year for three consecutive months.
Buyers are optimistic and excited about the new development as homes appear to stay longer and also the competition is not as fierce as it was at the beginning of the year. The increase, however, is yet to make up for the huge number of listings we used to have in the market about 5 years ago.
Some of the hottest markets in the United States are currently recording a big increase in the homes available for sale. In the same time, places such as Washington, Kansas City, and Las Vegas saw a double digits decrease in November which is a clear indication that the increase is yet to reach every part of the country.
Among the areas to witness the biggest increase in rents includes Riverside and Orlando in California with 3.9% and 4.4% increase respectively, while rents in Seattle, New York, and Portland saw the highest decline.
There have been years of inventory shortages which had led to tight competition-almost that of the financial crisis of 2008, therefore the smallest increase in the number of available homes will be embraced with both hands by home buyers.
A real estate investor in Seattle, Viktor Rybachuk, Co-founder of I Will Buy House stated that this increase is neither compensation for the shortage of the previous years nor is it evenly distributed.
“Instead of regarding this as a total inventory recovery, it is safe to say that this has only prevented the usual free fall we used to have in terms of home sales inventory,” Rybachuk added.
On the other hand, Zillow’s chief economist Aaron Terrazas has stated that there are no clear signs of a total recovery as far as the inventory is concerned.
Recently, the building of new homes has been the slowest to have been recorded in the United States. Meanwhile, interest rates are on the constant rise, and potential sellers may find it difficult to make their homes available for sale in such an environment. Pundits claim that the increase is a very welcome development, but there is much to be done to ensure total recovery.
According to a research conducted by Trulia, a strong indication that the housing market will favor intending buys is the fact that the reduction in prices of homes for sale across the country is hitting the highest since 2014.
For the best part of 2018, the number of price cuts had remained unchanged when compared to that of 2017. Although towards the end of 2018, there were noticeable cuts in the prices across the country.
There may be no clear signs that the number of listings will keep growing across the country, but stakeholders in the sector are keeping fingers crossed with high hopes that there be more homes for sale so as to close the huge gap that has been created in the past four years.
