The February news and numbers from our Lubbock real estate market.
As many of you have heard, we’re in an extreme seller’s market here in Lubbock. Today I’m sharing what happened in our market in February so you can make solid real estate decisions this spring. In February, we only had 429 homes on the market, but 475 went under contract, so things are very tight. We had 1.1 months of inventory, and homes are selling especially quickly and with multiple offers.
The good news is that we’re still selling tons of homes; we just have to be more creative with offers, and buyers need to be patient. The Lindsey Bartley Team saw a record month in February, and we’re still helping buyers win. We’re likely to have a tight market for some time, so if you’re waiting around for prices to decrease, unfortunately, they’re probably going to stay high for a while. There are plenty of other reasons for that as well, but a big one is inflation. We’ve heard estimates that we’ll have limited inventory for anywhere between three and 10 years.
There’s also not enough new construction happening for the amount of demand we’re seeing. We have a bunch of people here in Lubbock who have come from out of state. Every day, I speak with people come from California, Colorado, and Washington especially. It seems that plenty of people are moving to Texas from northern states right now, and it’s happening at a rapid pace. We also have quite a few more investors and first-time homebuyers entering the market these days.
“We’re still selling tons of homes; we just have to be more creative with offers.”
There’s just not enough construction to offset all of this, and additionally, building has slowed down a little because of the supply chain issues. It has been the perfect storm, and similar issues are happening across the country. However, interest rates are still low, so homes are still affordable right now. You should know that houses are likely to get less affordable moving forward.
You’re probably sitting on much more equity than you think. When we meet with sellers, we’ve been running net sheets for them so they can see what their homes are worth in the present market, and it’s blowing their minds. Often, when we look at what they still owe and what they can sell their property for, it’s amazing! If you sell a home you were paying a higher interest rate for and then buy one for a much lower rate, the numbers offset nicely.
Remember that things aren’t quite as bad as they seem on the news. If you’re considering making a move within the next few years, give us a call. We’d love to come out to see your home, run the numbers, and find out whether it’s a good time for you to move. Of course, there’s never any obligation.
As always, reach out via phone or on our website if you have any questions about our market or real estate in general. We’re always here to help.