Hey folks,

So, turns out last year was a pretty good one for new home construction. According to a recent report from Redfin, about a third of single-family home sales in the last quarter of 2023 were shiny, brand-spanking-new homes.

Remember when the housing market took a hit during the Great Recession? Yeah, well, after that, not many new homes were popping up. So, everyone was all about buying up resale homes. But then, along came the COVID-19 pandemic, and suddenly, everybody and their cousin were after new digs, especially millennials getting into the homeowner game.

And hey, if you’ve got a sweet 3% mortgage deal, why would you want to trade up to something pricier? That’s the vibe among current homeowners, who are hanging onto their properties like they’re treasure chests. Can’t blame ’em, really.

Plus, builders have been pulling out all the stops to lure in buyers with fancy promotions like rate buy downs and swanky upgrades. It’s like they’re competing in the Olympics of home sales.

According to some analysts over at MarketNsight, the new home market has been eating up a bigger slice of the pie lately. They’ve been capitalizing on the lack of action in the resale market and snagging more customers than usual.

Especially in places like Atlanta, where there’s a mad scramble for affordable homes. Seriously, if you’re looking for something under $350,000, good luck finding it. People are even eyeing scraps of land to build on because there just aren’t enough options.

And let’s talk numbers for a sec. Inventory has been dropping faster than hotcakes at a pancake festival since November 2023, and it’s down 3% from December. We’re talking basic economics here, folks: not enough supply to meet the demand.

But hey, there’s hope on the horizon, apparently. MarketNsight predicts things might pick up a bit come Spring, but don’t hold your breath for a flood of new listings.

So yeah, long story short, there’s still a huge shortage of homes out there. Like, we’re talking 40% less than before COVID hit. Atlanta alone needs nearly 50,000 new units every year just to keep up.

Guess we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for that dream home or maybe consider building a blanket fort instead.