This month’s National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Power Broker Roundtable discusses how brokers are addressing challenges related to the nationwide inventory shortage.

Cindy Ariosa, Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, Long & Foster Real Estate, Chantilly, Virginia; Liaison for Large Firms and Industry Relations, the National Association of REALTORS®: Real estate brokers face a unique dilemma: too many eager buyers and too few properties. We are all aware of why this is so—a pandemic-fueled demand for upgraded living space supported by historically low interest rates and, at the same time, sellers deterred by the health crisis or loath to list for fear their home will sell before they can find a new home. What can we do to bring the buy/sell ratio into balance?

Leonard Steinberg, Broker/Chief Evangelist, The Leonard Steinberg Team, Compass Realty, New York, New York: In Manhattan, the pandemic unlocked a stagnant market. The wealthy retreated to their weekend homes and there was a great migration from the city to the country. Now, as vaccines are pushing health fears aside, we are seeing a great rush back—and, as you might expect, the greatest shortage of inventory is at the lower end of the market.

Tracy Hutton, CEO, CENTURY 21 Scheetz Realty, Indianapolis, Indiana: It’s a challenging market across all price points in Indiana, with 10 or 15 buyers often competing for a single listing and willing to pay 5% to 10% over the listing price—with no contingencies. We’ve been focusing on buyer and seller education and setting the right expectations.

Mark C. Lowham, CEO/Managing Partner, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, Washington, D.C.: People are fulfilling their dreams right now. They crave space, they want to live on a horse farm, or in wine country, and they’re willing to pay whatever it takes to do that, even as demand pushes prices higher. I don’t see the demand slowing down until interest rates start rising.

Sheila Ivary Marsh, REALTOR®, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, Newport Beach, California: As a working agent, the key for me has been staying in touch with my sphere of influence. Prices have risen 14% year-over-year in pricey Newport Beach, but high-end homes are flying off the shelves, so it takes a lot of consultation and setting of expectations to help people navigate this market.

ML: Savvy agents have to be in-home therapists—able to help buyers through the stress and disappointment of the multiple-bid experience, presenting solutions that could work for them without exposing them to risk. At the same time, they need to counsel sellers, helping them understand why it might be the right time to sell or how to choose between 10 or 15 offers.

CA: Communication is key, especially as you develop new and better solutions for dealing with reluctant sellers. There are new MLS platforms, for example, that provide the agent with data on property values, net equity, local demographics and more.

SM: We’re launching a pilot program for people who want to buy before they sell. We make a 45-day commitment to buy their home so they can offer cash on a new home and have time to sell the old home.

LS: Today’s waning COVID numbers are unlocking great opportunity for new listings—with sellers who didn’t want to sell for health reasons, with people who’ve been through divorce or a death in the family and with sellers who had overpriced their homes because there was no urgency to sell, but who may be ready to make a move now.

TH: I’m so proud of our agents for showing up throughout this challenging year. They’ve learned new ways to do things and chalked up some of the most incredible numbers of their careers.

CA: Amen to that—and here’s to ingenuity in a post-COVID world full of new and exciting prospects.

The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and Cindy Ariosa, NAR’s liaison for Large Firms & Industry Relations. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.