“If you want to bring prices down and inventory up, we need more housing units,” he said. “We need more houses built every year. I think we’re a couple of million short in housing inventory already. So yes, if there’s some initiative that applies to the whole US, not just certain geographic locations, because we can see how that can go south quickly. We need fewer regulations so people can just build affordable new construction homes.
“Not everyone can afford that $1 million or $2 million ground-up house as either an owner-occupant or as an investor. But if we can figure out a way to start building affordable housing again in the $300,000 to $600,000 sales price range, that’s what I’m looking for. That could really ignite another wave of the housing market.”
Limited fix-and-flip inventory
Concannon said while fix-and-flip can be another great opportunity for investors, the limited existing inventory makes that path a bit harder.
“Fix-and-flip continues to be challenging,” he said. “There’s limited inventory. You have to find a property where you’ll actually make a profit. So that is challenging, but that’s if you have a more savvy borrower, they still know how to find those. You go to the auction, or you go to the auction websites, or you’re on the courthouse steps. There are just fewer of those compared to the great financial crisis.”
Because of the limited fix-and-flip inventory, many investors are circling back and considering ground-up construction instead.
