WHY IS NO ONE SELLING?

I have been saying for a while now that low inventory was the only thing holding up home prices. So, I did a little research, and it seems that the number of homes sold last month is about 50% of the number of homes sold in March 2022. Partly because there are about half the number of homes being listed for sale now vs March of 2022. And we all thought inventory was low in March 2022!! So what’s the deal?

I feel that the only homes being offered for sale now are people that must sell, or Mom has to move into a home, job transfer, or something similar. Nobody is selling to move up or move down because the prices and interest rates are just simply out of line now.

Many people are deciding to renovate, add on to current home and stay, or just put up with what they have, rather than selling and giving up a 3% rate for a 6% mortgage rate.

Prices went up about 40 % over the last two+ years!! That is incredible, and then mortgage rates doubled, so kind of a double whammy.

But, it seems the market usually comes back into equilibrium over time... but how that will happen I am not sure. The math says that at current mortgage rates of 6% or so, then prices need to come down 10-15% or more. Or, that interest rates need to come down quite a bit to maintain current price levels.

Something needs to correct itself: Interest rates, housing prices, or inventory. I wish I had a crystal ball, but I don’t. In Summary, I would say if you are thinking of selling at all in the next year or so you might want to get on with it or risk seeing prices fall further if inventory stays low and mortgage rates don’t change. Thanks