How “Switching Costs” Hold the Housing Market in Limbo w/Lance Lambert On The Market

The housing market has seen unprecedented home price growth in the 2020s. Already, we’ve almost beat the past three decades, and we aren’t even halfway through our own. And now, with home price growth slowing, many people wonder how we’re still in a position of high housing costs and low inventory. The answer is simple: “Switching costs” are holding the housing market in limbo, and the more you know about them, the more our current situation makes sense.
Put simply, “switching costs” are not only the financial but also the psychological costs of selling your current home and buying a new one. With mortgage rates close to double what most Americans have locked in, there’s a substantial financial consideration when purchasing a new home. Lance Lambert, co-founder of ResiClub and housing data authority, is on the show today to talk about home prices, housing inventory, and how “switching costs” influence both.
Lance details how our massive home price acceleration put many Americans in an affordability bind, making “switching costs” higher than in recent history. So, how do we cross the threshold to enter a time when “switching costs” are low, prices are stable, and housing inventory returns? Lance walks through exactly how to tell the direction your local housing market is going in and the data investors must look at to get a better sense of how home prices and housing inventory are trending.

In This Episode We Cover
“Switching costs” explained and why they’re keeping the US housing market in limbo
The “lock-in effect” that’s suppressing our housing inventory and keeping owners from selling
Inflation’s sizable role in the massive home price appreciation we’ve been seeing
The slow recovery in active listings and how far behind pre-pandemic levels we are
The one data point you must follow if you want to gauge how healthy your local housing market is
And So Much More!
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On the Market 108 - How the Pandemic Polarized America’s Property Market w/Lance Lambert
On the Market 189 - The Fed’s Plan “Backfired,” Now They’re Scrambling w/Logan Mohtashami
National home price growth this decade has already surpassed that of the entire 1990s and 2010s
Read More from Lance:
https://www.resiclubanalytics.com/

Jump to topic:
(00:00) Intro
(01:27) Housing Inventory Update 
(05:00) “Switching Costs” Shoot Up 
(10:52) Are Owners “Locked-In”? 
(16:04) Can Home Price Growth Last?
(21:36) How to Predict Your Market 
(26:10) Connect with Lance!

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/on-the-market-215
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