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Writing about winter in New England, the author Kurt Vonnegut suggested there was a season between winter and spring. In the deep, dark days, he called that season “Locking”. The days are short, the weather inhospitable, and it’s hard ...

Things slow down at the holidays. Well, at least some business-related things do. My cookie-consumption actually increases. Looking ahead we will be keeping an eye on inventory, which usually bottoms out in the first quarter. We will also be...

"One can feel it. A tightness, an obstacle in the way. The market has slowed. MLS numbers show more than double the inventory YoY (1269 vs. 576), sales pace has slowed (302 vs 495) and Months of Inventory reflects that (4.2 vs. 1.2). And whi...

“I suspect you have a feeling in your gut about where we are this month. The MLS data bears that feeling out.  Year over Year, we went from inventory of 665 to 1213 and sales of 493 to 381. That yields a YoY change in Months of Inventory ...

A few notes from looking through the transaction data this month. First, September was busy month for trustee and sheriff sales. Second, the alternative lenders were busy as well. Third, our Mover’s Moving Index generally slows some in the autumn, but this month’s 2...

Better, but not good. Or maybe, hard, but not as hard. Both describe the local market according to August 2022 MLS data. We posted 2 months of inventory on 1056 listings and 527 sales. Compare that to 678 listings and 608 sales last year. Ta...

We are seeing sales volumes slow and price appreciation stall, but not reverse meaningfully, in the Lubbock market. Months of Inventory effectively doubled YoY (1.9 vs. 1) mainly on increased inventory (935 vs. 647) and a relative decrease in sales (746 vs. 780 last yea...

Inventory is increasing, in MOI terms, largely because of a reduced pace of buying. June YoY numbers of listings went from 583 to 827, while sales went from 669 to 501. That moves MOI from 0.9 to 1.7, YoY. Still, 1.7 is a low inventory number, and it still reflects in p...

I was asked recently what I thought inflation meant to housing in Lubbock. I’ve talked in the past about the supply constraint, particularly in terms of Months of Inventory. Let me say that I think the recent increase in MOI has as much to do with buyers receding from...

It feels a little like spelunking without a flashlight. Forge on with uncertainty. The data are mixed. Rates are up, but so are mortgage applications. Prices are high, but volume continues apace. It feels like there’s enough confidence to get us through this season. M...