It’s official: Homeowners are staying put longer and moving less. At least, that’s the abbreviated summary of the WSJ study released last week. We’ve been experiencing this for a few years now, and the trend is considerably exacerbated by the tight home inventory market.
Frustrations are fueled by land use regulations, making it more difficult to build new homes and mega investors gobbling up hundreds or thousands of homes for rentals, thus precluding them from the market for new home buyers.
Conversations among industry professionals verify these thoughts. My real estate friends are selling plenty of homes, but a squeezed inventory is limiting success. My remodeling and patio/landscape friendly competitors are quite busy, too.It’s a frothy business climate!
Here’s another interesting trend, something that we are personally experiencing with a growing list of friends. Although we would like to downsize, the cost of the new and smaller homes on the market cost more than what we can sell our existing home for. So, moving would prompt additional debt or liquidating stocks to pay cash. Or …
COMMON STORY
Consumer appetite for new debt, or lack thereof, is compelling many of us to stay put longer. And why not? Most of us love our homes and our neighbors, we just want … (you can fill in your own blank). It could be an updated master bathroom or new kitchen. Many still dream of their future outdoor living space where everyone can gather under a shady pergola with a sexy fire feature and have a blast. Sounds great to me!
So, what’s your story? Moving soon or updating?
