What is causing the LOW Real Estate inventory levels?

Here is what is causing the low real estate inventory:

Moving for most people is optional. They want a larger/smaller home, closer/further from family, a different town/state…. Most of the homeowners where a move is optional, held off selling during COVID to avoid strangers in their home.

Landlords who rent out their homes/condos were not able to sell their property because of the eviction moratorium.

Many people who would have sold because of financial reasons held off because they were given a mortgage forbearance and didn’t have to pay their monthly mortgage.

The foreclosure moratorium kept many homes off the market.

Many homeowners are afraid to list their house because they are afraid there is no where to move to causing a self-reinforcing cycle.

When will this low inventory end?

Once people are vaccinated and COVID rates start to drop, people will then start getting back to optional moves.

We will have a large number of homes go on the market once the moratorium on evictions, foreclosures and forbearances expire.