There Is No Housing Shortage
For years now the narrative has been "There's a housing shortage."
That's a lie. There are14.5 million vacant housing units across America.
There isn't a housing shortage. But there IS a buyer shortage. Record levels of unaffordability are keeping everyone home.
Have you seen yesterday's inflation figures? As bad as they appear to be, they're even worse. Why? Well, how do we know the govt is lying? They're releasing the latest inflation figures.
Mortgage rates near 7%. . .and they ain't coming down.
Record housing costs.
Consumers drowning in credit card debt.
Auto delinquencies rising.
FHA delinquencies climbing.
The real issue isn't whether a house exists. It's whether anyone can afford to buy it.
That's why listings are sitting longer, and builders are offering all sorts of incentives to move their stagnant inventory. We're about a month away from BOGOs*
That's why price reductions are spreading, reaching 45% of listings across many markets.
To summarize, there isn't any stinkin' housing shortage. There is an affordability shortage. If and until sanity returns to housing prices there will be no joy in Mudville.
*BOGOs: ๐uy ๐ne ๐et ๐ne
