When Carol Gee checked her mailbox earlier this week, she found a handwritten postcard.
It was not a letter from a friend or relative who was on a distant vacation, but rather a call from a real estate agent asking if she was thinking about selling her house.
Carol, one 73 year old writer She lives with her husband in suburban Atlanta and has been bombarded with handwritten letters, flyers and phone calls from real estate agents and investors begging her to put her property on the market.
“There have been times when I would get cold calls all day long,” Carol said. “They offer all kinds of enticements, some even offer to pay in cash.”
But Carol, who has lived in the four-bedroom house for more than 30 years, has absolutely no interest in selling.
Carol Gee has been inundated with letters and calls from real estate agents and investors looking to sell her home (pictured) in Atlanta, Georgia
It’s no wonder real estate agents are desperate for willing sellers as the US faces a widespread housing shortage.
Mortgage rates are soaring – with the average 30-year fixed rate deal stuck at 7.19 percent, according to the latest data from government-backed lender Freddie Mac.
Rising interest rates mean homeowners stuck in cheap mortgages don’t want to sell.
This in turn drives property prices up, meaning buyers face the least affordable market since 2006.
According to the real estate company, pending home sales are down 13 percent compared to a year ago Redfinand total home sales are down 16 percent year-over-year through September.
And the housing shortage is most acute in the price ranges that middle-income buyers can afford, the paper said National Association of Real Estate Agents.
The market is short of about 320,000 listings worth up to $256,000, which is considered the affordability category for households earning up to $75,000 per year.
Writer Carol Gee, who has lived in her home with her husband for more than 30 years, says she has no interest in selling books.
Carol said she’s not the only person in her neighborhood being inundated with requests to sell her property – and homeowners across the US are being hounded by a barrage of messages from real estate agents.
Joel Efosa, CEO of Home Buyers Fire cash buyersowns several properties, including those in Dallas, Texas and Orlando, Florida.
“Recently I have noticed a significant increase in inquiries from real estate agents looking to purchase these homes,” he told DailyMail.com.
“I receive weekly mailings, and sometimes even phone calls, urging me to consider selling due to high demand and skyrocketing property values.”
His Dallas property, which he bought a few years ago for $200,000, is now appraised at nearly double that amount, he said.
“It’s clear that the housing shortage is creating a seller’s market – and real estate agents are keen to take advantage of that,” he added.
It comes after a Bank of America (BofA) analysis identified Dallas, alongside San Antonio and Houston, as one of four cities facing the worst real estate shortages in the US.
The list was completed by Orlando, Florida, which also has high population growth and low housing inventory.
BofA analysts tracked internal data from the second financial quarter of the year to assess where property markets were hottest and coldest
According to BofA, the areas with the greatest housing problems were due to their booming labor markets, which are increasing their population growth.
In Dallas, for example, the number of people on the nonfarm payroll has increased 14 percent since January 2019. In Orlando, this figure has increased by 10 percent.
At the national level, non-farm labor costs have increased by only 4 percent in relative terms.
Widespread shortages in ‘hot’ areas have caused home prices to skyrocket, with Orlando seeing home values rise 58 percent in June 2023, compared to 2019.
Similarly, in Dallas, homes had increased in value by 29 percent. But researchers said San Antonio’s real estate market has begun to “soften” despite the shortages.
However, there are still parts of the US that are less affected by shortages.
On the other end of the spectrum, St. Louis, Detroit and Miami were found to have the highest housing inventory relative to their population.