re: Real estate is insane. Is this sustainable?

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No time to actually look at the property because others are buying sight unseen a lot if times.

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Had the same issue. Must have had at least a dozen instances of setting up a viewing within 24 hours of a new house entering the market, only to have it go under contract at or above asking before my viewing. It’s ridiculous how quickly they are flipping.


Was a pain in the arse at the time, but now that I’ve got one I very much hope that dynamic continues indefinitely haha

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Right before the pandemic I bought the half acre next to me for 53k. At the time there were 10-12 similar lots ranging from 45-65k. Now there is one and it’s 90k.

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That’s just simple supply and demand right there.

i've been looking here outside of Birmingham and the inventory has stayed absurdly low. Around the holidays I figured new listings would flood the market after the new year but it didn't happen and supply is still miles behind demand.

I would be livid, I can't stand shitty people and developers are very high on the list right behind politicians.

It's bananas in mid-Missouri, and if it's bananas here it's probably that way in a lot of the country. There's just zero supply here; I'm in a small school district that's a pretty decent one and there 3 houses for sale, two of which are new construction and $180/square where last year in this area you'd never see something more than $150/square. We have a very modest starter home and bought some land last year on which to build. Getting stuck with the county's sewage restrictions has set us back several months, but in the meantime our house went from selling for about $145 to I think $170...tiny starter homes outside the city limits aren't supposed to appreciate 20% in one year.

It may be our saving grace though, because in the past year building costs have gone up more than that $25k so we'll need every bit of it. We met with the guy at the lumberyard who is giving us our take-off sheet and we asked him about lumber prices and he just shook his head. "I can't explain it. We've literally never been busier than we are at this very moment, and lumber has never been higher. It's something."

It's wild. So glad I moved three years ago but should have bought land sooner.

Hopefully cities have a renaissance once the pandemic is over and people want to go to shows, sporting events, clubs, etc. I have no interest in any of that. Only thing that keeps me near a city is medical care.

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I wonder is the price of lumber is adding to this mess. I know a couple families that were looking to build, but with the inflated prices lumber prices, they have been touring other homes.

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its not helping for sure.

the hurricanes in South LA didnt help either. My home wont be done for another 2-3 months but already could sell for prolly 20% more than i built for.

Agree it’s insane. No idea how sustainable.

Just to add to the data points being provided by others, I bought a small house in the mountains back in 2017 at just under $450/sq ft.

Over the last month, 3 houses on my street have sold at just over $800/sq ft...all 3 sold in 1 day.

To me, definition of frothy.

Agree with another poster that current conditions are perfect storm. If/when rates start to rise and marginal buyers realize WFH may not be as permanent as people think, hopefully things settle down some. But, sure seems that we don’t go back to early 2020 levels.

People are overpaying so much that the market will come to a halt. No one is going to give you the amount the you overpaid 3 years from now.

You are stuck with it.

I agree. Considering the rental route but things can change quickly by late June.