U.S. Housing Inventory Drops to Record Lows, But There's No Need to Panic

No, seriously -- don't panic. Resist. The fact is the real estate market is like an ocean. Lots of waves, ups and downs, and the correct pieces of the chessboard make the appropriate moves to keep the ocean moving the way it should. And at this point, we're at a wave that's so low that people are now beginning to wonder if anyone's going to be willing to move out of their old home and buy a new one (that is, of course, the driving force of a burgeoning real estate market, however....)

The Fact Is More and More People Are Seeking to Increase the Value of Their Own Properties, Remodeling, Sticking It Out for the Long Haul, and That's Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

For the most part, it's great for credit. Great for home values. Great for homeOWNERS (yes, not buyers, or sellers, but here's the catch....). And what this type of wave in the real estate ocean will do is simply push developers and builders to find the 'hidden gems' in an industry that still needs a bit of a push.

Because the losers are, indeed, real estate firms. Realtors. Property management companies. When the inventory isn't there, the buyers won't be. Agents will struggle finding those buyers or sellers in the game. It'll be tough to move this market, keeping the machine well oiled.

The reason, though, why this isn't such a bad thing is that the one game-changer to keeping the market moving forward is that developers need to get creative. Build more. Since home renting's still on the rise in a really big way, let's get some more apartment complexes up. And it takes a little bit of faith....

Why? Because no one knows just what the buyer's market really looks like.

We Can Say for Certainty, Though, That "If You Build It, They Will Come"

Millennials are still looking to break out. After all, home renting's still growing (which is why the home buying market and inventory is still crawling). So target them. The millennials. The prospective home renters. Give them a reason to buy, or at the very least, pursue an RTO. Give them the kind of affordable housing that'll whet their appetites.

We know: it takes a lot to build new opportunities. House flippers know this, but at the end of it all, the rewards are splendorous.

This is an excellent example of a housing market that isn't necessarily a "dead horse," or even a "lame one." Just a horse that still hasn't bolted out of the starting gate.

All it takes is one whip.