Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  If you’re  planning to sell  your house and move, you probably know there’s been a shortage of options available. But here’s the good news: the supply of  homes for sale  has grown in a lot of markets this year – and that’s not just existing, or previously-owned, homes. It’s true for newly built homes too.  So how do you decide which route to go? Do you buy an existing home or a brand-new one? The choice is yours – you just need to figure out what’s most important to you. Perks of a Newly Built Home Here are some benefits of buying a newly built home right now: Have brand new everything  with never-been-used appliances and materials Use energy efficient options  to save money and leave a smaller footprint Minimize the need for repairs  and benefit from builder warranties Take advantage of builder concessions  that can help with affordability In today’s market, a lot of builders are focusing on selling their  current inventory  before they add more homes to their mix. And some of them

  You may have heard that there are more  brand-new homes  available right now than the norm. Today, about  one in three  homes on the market are newly built. And if you’re wondering what that means for the housing market and for your  own move , here’s what you need to know. Why This Isn’t Like 2008 People remember what happened to the housing market back in  2008 . And one of the factors that contributed to that crash was that there were too many  homes for sale . While only part of the oversupply back then came from builders, the lasting impact is that some people still feel uneasy when they hear new home construction has ramped up. Even though the supply of new homes has grown this year, the data shows there’s no need to worry. Builders aren’t overbuilding, they’re just catching up.  The graph below uses data from the  Census  to  show  the number of new houses built over the last 52 years. Following the crash in 2008, there was a long period of underbuilding ( shown in red ). And