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Friday, March 29, 2024

Small Towns Witness Home Shortages Throughout U.S.

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By: Ilana Siyance

Throughout the country, houses were selling like hotcakes during the pandemic. This led to a lack of inventory of houses for sale in many areas.

As per the Wall Street Journal, the most dramatic shortages in home inventory are in vacation destinations, including Cape Cod, the Jersey Shore, and other areas once considered too remote for people who worked in cities. In research conducted by the WSJ together with Realtor.com, listings in over 1,000 ZIP Codes were studied the average monthly inventory levels from March 2020 to February 2021, comparing them with the beginning of 2017 through the end of 2019, for homes with median listing prices of $750,000 and above.

Not all areas are now experiencing shortages. In fact, cities known to be populous have seen substantial increases in the number of homes for sale since the pandemic, with people fleeing to less crowded locations, and taking advantage of the remote work options. Condos, co-ops, and even small houses in neighborhoods such as New York City, Los Angeles San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston experienced significant upticks in inventory.

Homes with large lots, in less densely populated areas, however, are seeing price wars with buyers thinking of creative ways to get ahead of the pack. Homes are selling out in just a few days, above the asking price, with multiple bidders begging for a chance. Buyers are even personalizing their entreaties by attaching hand-written pleas, with pictures and stories about their families. Buyers have reported unsuccessfully bidding more than asking price on multiple houses, and waiting months for more houses to come on the market.

The shortages in rural areas, particularly with ocean or lake access, is fueled by owners who are actually using their second homes, while working remotely, retiring early or avoiding air travel. The Jersey shore saw hefty home inventory shortages. Normandy Beach saw a 79 percent decline in inventory, as per Realtor.com data. Exurbs of Washington like Glenwood, Md., and Fairfax Station, Va also saw significant declines in home inventory, with buyers flocking to less dense areas with more outdoor space. Idaho’s isolated towns also enjoyed a spike in interest. Sun Valley’s 83353 ZIP Code had a 67% decline in inventory. Idaho’s Priest Lake also had a 67% drop in inventory. “A lot of people that had second homes already were moving here so kids could be in school in person,” said real-estate agent Kara Williams of Priest Lake Realty, pointing to the more lax COVID-19 restrictions in the tiny town.

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