Yesterday was May Day.  I had not given it a lot of thought, but then realized I had not seen anything about May Day for quite some time. 
I remember vividly stock piling the light green plastic baskets that strawberries came in at the store and working tirelessly to weave colored stripes of paper through it for just the right look. If I ran out, then weaving together heart paper baskets.  If I got really festive, pipe cleaners were in involved. Then came the loading of the baskets--popcorn, graham crackers and chocolate. 
Next delivery--placing it outside someone's door, then ringing the bell and running away.  
Talk about simple pleasures of brightening someone else's day. 
The next door neighbor even had a may pole I remember spending hours swinging from.  I don't if I have ever seen another May Pole honestly. 
But that was 30 years, did May Day stop being a thing?  
I had to find out.

Here is the nitty gritty on WHY this is happening:

1. Increase in tenure in a home, its up to approximately 13 years.
   
2. Baby Boomers are choosing to age in place rather than downsize or move. Over 55% of homeowners are over age 50. 
3. Short supply of entry-level housing for the 8.5 million first time home owners due to hit the market in 2020. 
4. Slow growth in home construction, which is isolated to high-tier home construction predominately.

What does that mean?  Its a buyer's market folks.  

Yet, there is also murmuring of needed changes afoot in the real estate sector Nationwide--due to lagging in keeping up with changes in technology.
A stronghold which holds back industry evolution is the MLS (multiple listing service), which is a collection of local organizations that control physical access & data relating to homes for sale.
Along with the phone-book size set of bylaws & hefty annual membership fees (in Iowa the dues per agent are over $1500 annually), the service requires both sellers & buyers to work through realtors & shun those who don’t abide by its rules (AKA limited bargaining power for the seller & buyer).