The housing market is never perfectly balanced but, in recent years, the gap between the number of homes for sale and the number of interested buyers grew historically large. The inventory of homes for sale hit all-time lows as buyer demand spiked and it led to increasing competition, higher prices, and more bidding wars. Fortunately, things have evened out somewhat since then due, in part, to the rising number of new homes being built across the county. In some areas, the rate of new home construction has helped flatten price spikes and given buyers more options when shopping for homes. In other regions, new home construction hasn’t kept up. One of the primary reasons is a lack of available lots. According to one new analysis, the lack of lots has been an issue since 2017 and is especially pronounced in the areas where new homes are needed most. The good news, though, is the same analysis found a 12 percent year-over-year increase in the number of available lots, a sign that lot development efforts over the past several years are starting to pay dividends. (source)
