Why Are There So Few Homes For Sale?

by | Sep 13, 2022

homes for sale

The National Housing Shortage

Looking through Realtor.com and Zillow.com for homes for sale but ending up frustrated with the results? The national housing shortage, along with shortages in our local markets of Lynchburg, Forest, Campbell County, Amherst County, and Bedford, has become a frequent topic of conversation in recent years.  Bidding wars, rapid appreciation, and the crazy real estate market we’ve been living in are the result of two basic forces:  High demand for housing and low supply of housing.

So why don’t builders just build more?

The answer is down a deep rabbit hole which we don’t have time to fully explore, but I thought you’d be interested to know a few of the reasons.

  1. Labor Shortages.  Builders are constrained by their ability to find skilled labor to build more homes.  As a result, projects take longer.
  2. Material Shortages.  Although now starting to loosen in some categories, builders in recent years have been hard pressed to obtain the materials they need to complete homes.
  3. Challenges in Development.  Environmental and other restrictions have made development costly and difficult.  Builders have had to reject otherwise feasible projects because the development costs are so expensive the project no longer makes sense.

Our realtors can help in any market!

There are other forces and factors at work, but these are some of the reasons why builders have been unable to step up and meet the high demand for housing in the Lynchburg area and all across the country! No matter what market we face, our realtors are willing to tackle any challenge. We would love to serve you and your families if you’re looking at homes for sale or if you’re desiring to list your own home or property on the market.

If you’d like more information on the housing market related to this post, feel free to check out this article or give us a call! We love talking real estate with our clients.

Interested in selling your home but want to boost it’s value? Check out our previous blog post with 6 ways you can improve your cub appeal!