Housing Inventory Crunch Suggests Coming Bidding Wars & Resultant Skyrocketing Prices

Mortgage rates are close to three-year lows and…have captured the attention of home buyers, but they’re also encouraging home owners to refinance their mortgages and stay in their homes, rather than sell…This has resulted in strong demand for houses combined with a shortage of homes for sale — a recipe for the fastest increases in home prices in years.

…During mid-January, the pace of home buyers applying for mortgages hit an 11-year high. In the most recent week, demand for mortgages to buy homes rose 2%, and applications for refinance loans jumped 8%…[Indeed,] home buying during January was as busy as agents normally see during the spring…

Thanks to the cheap rates, the housing market is moving toward what Redfin calls “the mother of all inventory crunches” this year, with demand for homes at a 10-year high but the number of houses on the market at a 20-year low…[with] just a three months’ supply of homes available for sale…but until supplies can satisfy the hunger for homes, Redfin is warning home buyers to prepare for bidding wars for houses and skyrocketing prices.

Editor’s Note:  The above excerpts from the original article by Doug Whiteman have been edited ([ ]) and abridged (…) for the sake of clarity and brevity.  The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article.  Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor. Also note that this complete paragraph must be included in any re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

Scroll to very bottom of page & add your comments on this article. We want to share what you have to say!