Just 7 of the Nation’s 200 Largest Markets Are Back to Pre-Pandemic Inventory Levels

According to the Federal Reserve, a surge in housing demand in 2020 and 2021 could only be satisfied with a 300% increase in housing supply. Despite a series of affordability challenges that have actively stifled homebuyer demand over the last year, just seven of the nation's 200 largest housing markets are back to pre-pandemic inventory levels, Fortune reports.

Those seven markets, including Killeen-Temple, Texas; Lubbock, Texas; Kennewick-Richland, Wash.; Waco, Texas; Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas; Huntsville, Ala.; and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, have seen a higher concentration of home building activity, in addition to major demand pullbacks in response to last year's mortgage rate shock.

It's no surprise that Austin—arguably the epicenter of the bifurcated pandemic housing correction—has seen a sharper tick up in inventory. The Pandemic Housing Boom was particularly fierce in the Austin market, where local prices soared 63% between March 2020 and May 2022. That home price jump, coupled with last year's mortgage rate shock, simply pushed Austin home prices too far beyond fundamentals, thus spurring a home price correction.

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