According to both Shaun Bond, who directs UC’s Real Estate Center, and Mike Spicer, president of the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors, it’s
inventory. With fewer houses available “the onus is on the buyer,” says Spicer. “You have to act a little quicker, make sure your offer is better.” Bond says that, for some homeowners, “there’s still a sense people have that their house is not worth what they think, so they’re reluctant to sell and realize a loss.”
Bond adds that we’ve seen a rise in investment purchases—large interests, like private equity funds, buying up homes with an eye toward renting them. “These investors are seeing rents increase,” he says, “which prompts them to support investment in severely undervalued single family homes.” It’s not clear if this will become an established feature of our market or if these large funds will want to get out of the property management business. If they do, notes Bond, “hopefully, the market can absorb that increase in supply.”
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