We’re facing a massive inventory crisis in our St. George market.
At the end of 2020, housing inventory nationwide hit an all-time low. You read that right: the lowest in recorded history. What does that mean for buyers and sellers in Washington County?
To have a balanced market that produces healthy appreciation over time, we need roughly 1,400 homes available for sale. As it stands, we only have about 400. This is a problem.
We all want our homes to appreciate, right? Sure. But how do “regular folk” afford housing if St. George home prices continue to escalate at such a pace? More on that in a moment.
Where are all these buyers coming from? You name it: California, Nevada, Virginia, Florida—you name it; they’re coming from everywhere. During the last boom they were mainly coming from the West Coast. Now we’ve added in the rest of the country plus thousands of Buyers from Northern Utah and surrounding who want a piece of the St. George second home market.
In the $200,000 to $300,000 price range in Washington County, we only have 0.3 months of available inventory. That means it would only take a third of a month to sell all the homes for sale (i.e., 10 days). We typically keep a four- to six-month supply of homes. This. Is. Nuts.
Who benefits from this in our market? Primarily, investors and landlords. They don’t need to move across town and don’t need another home to move into. If you’re an investor or landlord and have owned a home for more than two years, it’s likely appreciated by $30,000 or more. I could probably put a buyer in your home without ever listing it on the MLS.
“Regular” Sellers (folks relocating across town or out of town) are the second group that benefits from this.
If you need to move across town or upgrade to a better home, my team and I can negotiate a contract that will enable you to buy and sell without being temporarily homeless. In the last month, my team’s probably gotten around 50 inquiries from buyers looking to buy just in our Desert Flower and Brookwood subdivisions alone.
If you’d like to know more about our St. George market or are interested in a home valuation, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to speak with you. I hope you have an amazing rest of your winter and an even better spring in 2021!
Bottom line? The only solution to this housing shortage, and to stop prices from escalating to skyscraping levels, is for folks to put their home on the market. “But where will we move?” We can handle that. As a matter of fact, we can guarantee you won’t go homeless when we sell your home by way of unique contracts we’re writing for our clients.
Wanna scratch that itch about what your home’s value may be? Start HERE with our “HomeBot” service. I promise you’ll love it!
Call us directly at 435-215-4533 if you want to open up a conversation about selling your home, buying another, or just to catch up!
PS!! Here’s a list of our active, ready, willing and able Buyer clients who would buy TODAY if they found their home! Please call, email, text, or courier pigeon ASAP if you or a friend’s home is a match!
