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Let’s talk about new home construction growth. Recall that in 2019 we set a record by issuing over 1300 new home permits. In 2020 we crushed that record by issuing 1826 new home permits. Well, the 2021 numbers made those records appear diminutive. At last count, we is...

Happy Holidays! I don’t have a Top Gifts list for you, or a year-end Best Of post. But I will point you to a new offering from one of my favorite econ bloggers, Bill McBride…

We are sitting on 1.2 Months of Inventory for October 2021. That is derived from a faster pace of closings (467 vs 450) and fewer homes in the market (665 vs. 778) when compared to October 2020. Average days on the market fell to 58 days (from 74 in 10/2020). Median Sol...

Basic economic theory says when supply is low and demand is high, prices increase. September inventory was low in Lubbock (592 Active Listings; 1.3 MOI). Demand was still high (8.7% YoY volume increase), and prices reflected that (24.7% Y...

We’ve seen some relief in the Months-of-Inventory category, and that supply-constraint has affected sales volume (transaction count and prices) as we’ve discussed. But I want to highlight another metric to tell that story. In “normal” times (or at least in a mar...

We are starting to see just the barest edges of softening (think moving out of the blast furnace, into the mere lava). July 2021 Months-of-Inventory crawled up to 1.2 for all residential types. We remain 10.4% up YoY on closed units sales, up 27.3% in YoY total closed v...

Lubbock MLS numbers for June 2021 reflected 1.1 Months of Inventory, boosted significantly by 2.2 Months of Inventory in newly constructed homes (tongue firmly in cheek on the “boosted significantly”). Both existing home sales and new home sales are far from the “...

The second chart at this link is a both a bit dated (it’s from late April) and evergreen. I keep thinking about it. It follows a 20-year period (so don’t get too tied up in its implications on today’s inflation.) But compare the ratio of red-and-orange (houses und...

The latest NAR headline is Virtually Every Metro Area Experienced Home Prices Rise in First Quarter of 2021. The story is a mighty reflection on supply and demand. Almost every metro area tracked showed a YoY price increase, most with double-digit increases.

Rather than more statistics, here’s an anecdote that hits the same themes we’ve discussed recently. I’m sitting in the bleachers at a little league game. The younger couple next to me is discussing their own efforts, and the efforts of their parents, to find house...