Inventory setbacks due to extreme weather

According to a recent MReport, extreme weather means there will be setbacks in housing supply. When severe freezing weather hit several regions last month, it prevented many listings from hitting the market. This caused an increase in the housing-inventory gap. Experts from Realtor.com revealed that the weather caused inventory to be at an all time low, even lower than pre-pandemic levels, and it will be difficult to recover. Researchers believe the homebuying season will be very competitive this season. Danielle Hale, Realtor.com Chief Economist, stated “Last month’s record cold and snowstorms likely caused sellers to hit pause, even if only temporarily. However, in today’s inventory-starved market, any setback is significant. Unless we see some big improvements in the new listings trends over the coming months buyers can expect stiff competition. And unlike last spring, buyers may also face affordability challenges as home prices and mortgage rates increase. Market dynamics continue to favor sellers”.

WHAT ELSE DID THE REPORT CONCLUDE?

The report states that nationally, the for sale home inventory in February decreased by roughly 49% over the past year. That is about 496,000 fewer homes for sale compared to February of 2020. During the severe weather, new listings dropped by 35.2%, but then recovered to 26.9% in the last week of February. The report stated, “Approximately 207,000 fewer homes were newly listed for sale during the first two months of 2021, compared with the average for those two months over the last four years. New listings would need to increase by 25% year-over-year in March and April to bring the year-to-date figure back to April 2020’s levels”. Fortunately, available homes are selling very quickly. The average home spent 70 days on the market last month.

Click here to read the full MReport and learn more!

Click here to read the full Realtor.com report.