08/05/2021
Are you waiting for the "housing shortage" to come to an end in the Charlotte area? -- According to the NPR, this shortage has been decades in the making and is here to stay for the next 10 years.
(https://www.npr.org/2021/07/30/1022827659/three-reasons-for-the-housing-shortage) 16 minute listen!
This is more than a trend here at home in NC.. across the country, there is an estimated 1,000,000 homes for sale -- roughly 3 million short of meeting current demand. Not many REALTORS are willing to discuss these restrictions in the market or how they may impact your plans or your goals in the near future. We wanted to take a moment to highlight how and why this is taking place.
1) Boomers (our parents?) - Defined as people aged 58-70 not moving on from their real estate. While they represent only 28% of the population, own 44% of housing units) a social change since their previous generation.
2) Lack of zoning changes. Poor planning and resistance to change have decreased build opportunities. Many local government officials are often homeowners themselves and closer in demographics to other homeowners, resulting in less leadership to incite changes in policy. There is a massive need for higher-density housing nationwide.
3) Lack of skilled labor. Why? "Nervous" building habits since the market crashed in 2008-09 -- during the recession, there was a very large volume of homes sitting on the market. This increase in supply led to a drop in value. Contractors and construction tradesmen jobs were scarce as funding stopped and we are now paying the price for the lack of labor that can take years of apprenticeship to develop.
What are your thoughts on the future of housing inventory? Any factors you feel NPR did not consider?
