The hottest Inventory Substack posts right now

The 2-part overview offers insights into the current state of the housing market for mid-February 2024, covering aspects like house prices, sales, inventory, mortgage rates, and rents.
New listings for existing homes were up 2.8% year-over-year in January 2024, showing a slight increase from the previous year's record low for January, potentially signaling an increase in overall inventory for the market.
It's important to note that December and January are typically the weakest months for new listings, and while new listings are expected to show year-over-year growth in 2024, March data will provide a clearer picture of their proximity to normal levels.

The current housing market inventory is increasing year-over-year but remains below pre-pandemic levels.
New listings for existing homes were up 11.3% year-over-year in February according to the Realtor.com report, showing a positive trend.
Factors like the '3 D’s' (Death, Divorce, Disease), unemployment, and financial considerations affect homeowners' decisions to sell their homes, impacting market dynamics.

The housing market has a significant impact on the U.S. economy, representing 15-18% of GDP.
High interest rates and low inventory in 2023 caused fewer transactions and high home prices.
Predictions for 2024 include falling interest rates leading to more supply, potential modest price declines, and buyers becoming more rational.

California home sales were up 5.9% year-over-year in January, marking the first year-over-year sales gain in 31 months.
Active listings in California decreased year-over-year for the 10th month but new listings increased, suggesting some balance in the market.
In January, closed sales in various markets were up 3.0%, showing improvement compared to the previous month, but they are down compared to January 2019 levels.

The final look at local housing markets in January showed low existing home sales but an increase in new listings for the fourth month in a row.
Active listings in January were up 3.0% year over year, highlighting the importance of monitoring inventory trends in the coming months.
Closed sales in January saw a 3.0% increase year over year, revealing differences from sales in January 2019 and hinting at potential sales growth in February.

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Existing home inventory trends are not following predictions based on baby boomers downsizing.
Some experts predicted a surge in housing inventory from 2015 to 2025 due to baby boomers downsizing, but that did not happen.
It's important to stay informed about trends in housing inventory and demographics to understand the market shifts.

Existing home inventory is historically extremely low due to low mortgage rates.
Few distressed sales are expected because most homeowners have substantial equity.
Every housing cycle presents unique themes and challenges.

Ecommerce returns have surged, leading to unsustainable cycles of returns. Covid-19 exacerbated this trend, with around 40% of retailers easing return policies, resulting in return rates of 20% for ecommerce.
Returns are costly for retailers due to logistics expenses. Online returns can cost retailers approximately 21% of the order value, and long returns processes lock up inventory, impacting retail profitability.
Major retailers like Amazon have mastered optimizing returns through dedicated processing centers. Democratizing this capability to all brands is essential for efficient returns management.

There was a significant rise in excess inventory due to supply chain challenges, leading to potential losses of over $1T annually.
Ghost is a B2B marketplace created to help brands manage and liquidate excess inventory efficiently.
The founders of Ghost, Josh Kaplan and Dee Murthy, demonstrated remarkable success with the platform in a short period, showing strong product-market fit.

December home sales in 2023 were the lowest since 1995.
Inventory of homes dropped in December but increased compared to the previous year.
Home prices are increasing, but fewer investors are buying homes.