National Housing Inventory Shortage: What You Need To Know
The National Housing Inventory is a national database that houses home sales and listings across the nation. With less inventory being on the market, it causes an increase in prices and a shortage of homes. Millennials are moving out of the family home at a faster rate than ever before. If you are looking to buy a home, now is not the time to sell. If a buyer decides to put an offer on the table with an agent but the seller doesn’t send in the inventory, the potential buyers will be bumped from the list.
There is a lack of home inventory on a national level. Real estate agents struggle to keep up with demand. We are seeing home values rise across the nation. There are some markets that are in higher demand than others as supply dwindles.
What is the National Housing Inventory?
First, a little bit about the National Housing Inventory. The NHA is a national database that houses home sales and listings across the nation. It consists of more than 680,000 properties. It includes a wide range of property types like mobile homes, owner-occupied homes, and single-family residences. Homes that are for sale, but not for rent, are not counted. Listings can be looked up at the NHA website. You can search by house type, location, or price range. It’s a nice search engine that can be used to figure out what homes are available, who has what homes, and more. If a property isn’t on the list, that means it hasn’t sold. It’s not on the market because someone doesn’t want to sell it.
What is causing the shortage?
In an effort to curb rising prices, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the National Housing Act. The Act establishes standards for the home buying process. The Act focuses on the health and quality of the nation’s housing. It also mandates that the federal government work with local governments to address the issue. According to HUD, there is a shortage of “single-family, renter-occupied properties to rent and own.” We have seen an increase in demand from millennials and Baby Boomers and that has overwhelmed the inventory. There are a couple of ways the shortage has impacted the real estate market. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), we have an opioid crisis.
What should you do to take advantage of this shortage?
How The National Housing Inventory Works In order for a seller to list their home with a real estate agent, they must provide the housing inventory on their property to the real estate agent. With less inventory being on the market, it causes an increase in prices and a shortage of homes. This is leading to several challenges in the housing market. Potential Buyers Are Supposed To Get Bumped From The List If a buyer decides to put an offer on the table with an agent but the seller doesn’t send in the inventory, the potential buyers will be bumped from the list. This makes the number of homes on the market for sale lower. It also makes it more likely for a home to be taken off the market and sold at an unrealistically low price.
Conclusion
If you are looking to buy a home, now is not the time to sell. If you are looking to sell, then it is best to wait until spring when the Spring selling season begins. (Hoya Capital Real Estate, HousingWire) Home values have been climbing, inventory has been shrinking, and Millennials are moving out of the family home at a faster rate than ever before. Does this mean the crisis is here, and that we should start buying in anticipation of a housing crash? We don’t think so. Instead, we think that the rise in home prices is a function of high demand, not a housing shortage. We have added additional color, charts, and historical data to show you why. First, let’s review the problems currently facing the housing market. First, the demand for housing is high.