October Research, LLC’s second of its four-part Economic Forecast webinar series featured Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). SoftPro sponsored the 30-minute presentation, and it is free to all viewers.
Lautz first addressed the current inventory shortage the housing market is experiencing. According to data recently released by the NAR, the market only has enough inventory to last 2.5 months. In contrast, she said, a balanced market prefers to have 6.5 months’ worth of inventory.
“The golden question today is, why in the world are we in this situation?” Lautz said. “A lot of it has to do with land, labor and skilled labor, but also looking at massive supply constraints that have been accelerated during COVID-19…. It is very much an issue if anyone’s tried to order an appliance or a piece of furniture. Lumber is always top of mind when we talk about supplies, but it goes well beyond lumber at this point, when we think about all the supplies within a home.
“The other thing that we’re seeing here is a lot of restrictions on local building, so people are not able to build multifamily homes where perhaps young adults may want to purchase their first home or where it may be more affordable to actually purchase a condo or a townhouse.”
Lautz also discussed who is buying homes, the changes in the deciding factors of these buyers, and whether there is any relief in sight for this tight market.
To learn more about what Lautz is expecting, check out the full complementary webinar here.