Spring is usually the busiest time of year for the housing market, when more people are putting their homes up for sale. However, the spring selling rush seems to be starting earlier this year. Some homeowners are already putting their homes up for sale to advantage of the rebounding home prices and improved equity.
Sellers are also starting to put home on the market early because they don’t know whether there will be a lot of people listing in the spring- which can cause a big counterbalance towards too much inventory- or if there will be a housing crunch again. Homeowners are trying to get ahead of the market and sell early to be done with it.
Last year, there was a major home inventory shortage. The availability of homes for sale leading into spring was at a 12-year low. The shortage of homes helped boost prices a little bit, but it gave buyers very little options when looking for a home, and often sparked bidding wars in many markets. The construction of new homes in now at a third of its peak from 2006, which likely is going to keep home inventory tight in the spring. However, it is anticipated that because of improved home prices, there will be more homeowners listing their homes in the spring this year, which will help relieve the inventory crunch.
During the last four months of 2013, home inventory levels began to increase after a 30-month decline. Inventories also increased in some of the states with the highest tightest markets. Some of these were Arizona, California, Georgia, and Florida.
Due to the expected rise in inventory levels, home prices are expected to only rise 4% in 2014, as compared to 11% in 2013.