Market on the Move: The house hunting hunger games - KOMU 8

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COLUMBIA- The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected several business markets across the globe, but not every market. 

The pandemic has caused a real life hunger games when it comes to house hunting. Realtors were taken by surprise when the market started to boom.

"Now we find ourselves in a situation where there isn’t enough property to sell. It’s really crazy,” CEO at Missouri Realtors, John Sebree, said.

There are currently 6,326 homes actively on the market in Missouri, but there are just 140 in Boone County.

"Overall our absorption rate, quote on quote, which is how quickly houses will sell is about is a little bit under a month. That being said our days on market especially as you go lower in price points, is it can be anywhere from 30 days to in some of the first time home buyer range to less than a week," Chris Martin, CEO at the Columbia Board of Realtors, said.

The exact absorption rate in Columbia is .95 months, which means that all of the homes on the market could sell out in under 30 days. 

This absorption rate means this is a seller's market. Buyers have to fight harder by overbidding the selling price to win.

At the Lake of the Ozarks  there is similar situation. 

“I don't expect it [the house listed on Thursday] to be on the market longer than 24 to 48 hours. Things are flying off the market here as well. People are putting their money into real estate now and having a vacation home,” Annamarie Hopkins, of A Smarter Move Real Estate, said. 

The housing inventory is extremely low. In this case, supply is low and demand is high, much like the toilet paper market at the beginning of the pandemic. People are fighting for what is on the market. 

This makes it difficult for buyers to get a home under contract. They have to move faster and uptick their offers. But there are tips for those trying to enter this competitive market.

"Home prices have escalated because inventory is still lower than it is in a normal market. And some sellers are starting to list more but buyers are buying them quicker than they can list," local realtor Nicci Garmon said. "And so, your basic economic one on one with supply and demand... it’s driving home prices up because supply is low, demand is high.”

The pandemic played a large role in the buying boom. Sheltering in place made people redefine what home meant and how it could better serve them. 

“People were stuck at home and they started realizing, you know what, we chose this house because of a commute. It was halfway between my job and your job kind of thing," Sebree said. "And now, or maybe it was because of school or something else. Now all of a sudden people have started acting on their desires for different aspects in housing.”

Experts say they don't expect the market to change any time soon. There is hope for buyers in a seller's market. 

“I would just recommend that no one approach this from a position of fear or concern," Sebree said. "It is a challenging market in some ways but we have a really large healthy number of real estate agents that understand what’s going on and know how to deal with it.”

This is the first of KOMU 8's three part series Market on the Move.

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Market on the Move: The house hunting hunger games - KOMU 8
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