Source: The Motley Fool —
There’s a reason so many people have struggled to buy a home over the past two years. Since the latter part of 2020, the real estate market has sorely lacked inventory. And while housing supply has picked up to some degree in recent months, there’s still a notable shortage of available homes.
The National Association of Realtors reports that as of the end of September, there were 1.25 million homes available for sale. That represents a 3.2-month supply. But it normally takes a minimum of a 4-month supply to meet buyer demand, and sometimes as much as a 6-month supply. And so right now, sellers still have an upper hand due to that lack of inventory.
In fact, low housing inventory has led to soaring home prices over the past couple of years. And when we combine high prices with rising mortgage rates, it makes for a very challenging market.
But will housing inventory pick up in 2023? There’s reason to believe it could. But the circumstances leading to that may not be ideal.
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