Housing Inventory Crunch

November 6th, 2018

Think Realty Radio Podcast
Summary by Casey Ryan Richards (http://www.CaseyRyanRichards.name)

On today`s show Abhi Golhar interviewed Greg Rand of OwnAmerica.com on the real estate market. They discussed how the housing market is going through an inventory crunch. Buyers have started to get fed up with never ending property value increases and interest rates are making those properties less affordable. As a result, houses aren`t selling as quickly. As this occurs, values start to decrease slightly or slow their rate of increase, but this isn`t a problem. If you have a 20 year time horizon it doesn`t even matter and could be a good time to buy.

The market shift is leading to a more even handed market. Now sellers and buyers are on an even playing field. Inventory is staying on the market longer and opening up more options for home buyers. As wages go up, people will be able to catch up with the raising interest rates and home affordability will start to come back into line with incomes.

Greg also mentioned that for those out there trying to find a deal a great option is Huntsville, Alabama. It is a sleeper city that is positioned for great appreciation in the future. It is in the popular southeast region, has the perfect red state/blue city combo, and has auto industry jobs increasing. Plus the lower price of houses in the city will lead to higher yields for rental investment properties.

Abhi was also curious about retail trends affecting the return on real estate investments. Greg`s answer was Yes. Amazon is taking over the last mile. It used to be that you would pick up that last mile product from the store, but now you just order it online. Buying single family rentals near Amazon will probably end up being a good strategy, but investing in retail store fronts will be a loser.

The show is posted at ThinkRealtyRadio.com