Housing supply is finally improving as high prices and rising rates weigh on sale.

For many years, the housing supply had been low due to the high mortgage rate, high property prices, and other factors such as low construction rate and government policies, among others. According to a response to Realtor.com data, the supply of homes has finally started to improve as the monthto-month mortgage cost on a $400,000 residence, with a 20% down cost, which is now greater than it was in March 2020, according to a response to Realtor. com data.

For the past two years, there has been an imbalance between the supply and demand sides, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During the first pandemic wave, many people lost their employment which effectively meant that their affordability was deeply compromised. During this time, many people started counting on the government to support their living, and many others relied on their long-term savings. In such conditions, home buying ability was largely affected!

Entering 2022, the economic condition of most people began improving, especially in the months immediately after the vaccination had been rolled out. During this time, many people began resuming work, and to date, there seems to be a state of normalcy. In fact, many areas are recording high employment stats, which means many people who were locked out of the market during the pandemic years will be making a comeback.

And it makes sense! During the pandemic years, many homebuyers were priced out of the market. Prices rose so fast that many low-tomoderate income people could hardly keep up. The rates are rising, which means many people are getting out of the market. Sellers are scared and are releasing their homes for sale to capture the high prices before the market normalizes. We all knew that it was just a matter of time for the market to stabilize; after all, when there is a high swing, it is likely that there will be a corrective measure. While this corrective measure might not be significant enough to favor many buyers, it at least gives the market a breathing space.

April data suggests a positive turn of events is on the horizon for weary buyers: If the trends we’re seeing “ now hold true, we could potentially see year-overyear inventory growth within the next few weeks, said

Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com.

High mortgages in the market have decreased homeownership demand, and house supply which was an issue in the past years, has now started to improve.

Housing demand in the market is influenced by the size, quality of neighborhood amenities, location, and distance from the city center. People willing to buy a home and afford it at a high price have occupied the classic city model housing. Large house loan prices with higher housing rates have side-lined with the level of competition, and this has improved house supply

. During the pandemic years, one trend was prevalent. People preferred less expensive properties, and since many were already working remotely, they migrated to other areas where houses were cheaper. Now that the pandemic is manageable, many people have resumed their old position or found new positions, which means they can confidently afford the new cheaper home. In areas where they migrated, the housing situation is getting better with supply rising, but this is not sustainable. Sustainable supply is where we have new construction happening and adding more properties to the market. When house demand is high, property prices also increase, and home sellers will try to improve on supply to grasp the high profit made from home selling. In April, the stock was 12% lessen than in the same month last year. In the seven final days in April, exhibits stock was down only about 3% from 12 months in the past.

This is the right time for these buyers who wish to get home and market it in the future with unprecedented price growth. This is because the high supply that is present now will not be sustained for long due to the high demand that is competing with the improving supply. When one buys a house now and markets it in a few months to come, the house price will rise, thus making more profit.

In April this year, house loans rose to their highest level since June 2009, and today’s mortgage rate is 5.33%, while the average rate for 15 years fixed rate is 4.406%, forcing home buyers to leave the market. As a result, the home supply is improved but will not be sustained for a long period as investors look for alternative means to get back to the market.

We’re Starting Over, Inc.

- a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting and uplifting people experiencing the effects of mass incarceration, systemic racism, housing insecurity, substance addiction, and mental health issues. We believe that people impacted by these issues are the ones closest to the solutions, which is why we are a Black-led and criminal justice-impacted organization engaged in this work. From experience, we’ve learned that housing is critical, but alone, it is not enough to support those exiting prisons or the streets. We not only provide transitional housing, but also include holistic services such as peer support, case management, employment, wellness, and reentry services. We also work to address the root causes of our houseguests’ difficult situations, leading grassroots organizing and policy initiatives in the Inland Empire region and statewide. Established in 2009, we’ve served over 1,400 men, women, and families in Riverside and Los Angeles Counties through the reentry and transition process.

We believe that the past does not define our future. We’re invested in creating safe and equitable opportunities for all members of our community, and especially those with past convictions. Housing opportunities are crucial for our community members and directly affect their ability to thrive.

Starting Over, Inc. is committed to reducing and eliminating the many barriers to life after incarceration. We have a deep commitment to identifying and implementing evidence-based approaches to strong communities and families. We seek to creating program/project solutions where the need exists in our community. We do lots of things at Starting Over, Inc. - but our primary goal is to address the immediate effects and root causes of incarceration, be it through housing, employment, legislation, or community organizing.

To get involved with our initiatives, access our services, or support our work through donations, you can reach us at (951) 898-0862 or office@startingoverinc.org.

We currently operate eight homes in LA and Riverside Counties open to men, women, and children, with options for sober living or harm-reduction housing. All of our services are available to our houseguests, many of whom have been unable to obtain housing after being released due to their conviction histories.

Our Case Management specialists provide support to our guests with obtaining necessary documents/identification and accessing insurance, education, healthcare, clothing, food, & more.

Our houseguests are not alone - our support specialists, having experienced incarceration, addiction, and homelessness themselves - understand our guests' needs and the barriers they face. We’re here to meet our guests wherever they are in their journeys and to support them moving forward through empowerment, support with recovery, referrals, and mentorship.

Mass incarceration affects not just individuals, but families - many of our community members and guests experience family separation at the hands of the child welfare system. The FREE Project is system-impacted led and organizes parents and family members in a non-judgemental space, advising on best practices and dependency court procedures. We recently sponsored and passed a statewide bill that eliminates major barriers to child placement and allows family members with criminal convictions unrelated to caring for children to be considered as placement options allowing for suitable family members with criminal convictions to step up in times of crisis.

Through our Path to SEED program, we connect guests and community members with employment opportunities and provide training & support regarding obtaining and retaining employment, often a major hurdle for formerly incarcerated individuals.

Our free clinics provide relief for expungements, wills/trusts, immigration, and more with the support of local legal organizations.

In the past year, we’ve co-sponsored and/or supported nearly a dozen statewide bills to reduce the scale of mass incarceration and its collateral consequences. We’ve also worked locally to influence Riverside County to reduce criminal history look-back periods from 7 years to 3 years in 2017 and to enable youth coming out of probation to be able to stay with their family members in subsidized housing.

Our Participatory Defense organizing model (based on Silicon Valley De-Bug) empowers family and community members in the courtroom to positively impact their loved one’s outcome and to bring them home. As fiscal sponsor and start-up organization of Riverside All of Us or None (a chapter of a national initiative of formerly incarcerated people, family members, and allies advocating for the rights of the currently and formerly incarcerated people) we ensure that system impacted leadership remains at the center of the fight to keep our community together and address the social problems that incarceration purports to solve. Our community outreach team also disseminates voter registration and public health information regarding COVID-19, and we organize food and clothing relief for community members in need.