39% Drop in Seattle Real Estate Inventory: U.S. Homes Available For Sale Down 21%

The inventory of homes available for sale in the U.S. dropped drastically over the past year, with 21 percent fewer homes available today as compared to the same month in 2011.  With lower inventory and stabilizing home prices nationwide, the necessary elements of a real estate recovery seem to be coalescing.

Inventory in the Greater Seattle real estate market has dropped almost 40 percent in the same time period, a staggering number.  With effectively four of every ten homes available last year now off the market, buyers are seeing an increasingly tight market and much more competition for new listings across Seattle and King County.

From Realtor Mag:

The nationwide inventory of residential homes for-sale dropped 21 percent in March compared to a year ago, according to newly released housing data from Realtor.com, tracking 146 metro markets.

In fact, all 146 markets posted a drop in their inventory, except for two — Hartford, Conn., and Philadelphia.

The nationwide median list price in March also saw improvement, increasing more than 5 percent last month compared to last year at this time.

The housing picture is much different than last year at this time, when inventory was up 26 percent and list prices were down 4.81 percent.

“If the market continues to hold its own, 2012 could well mark the beginning of a broad-based housing recovery,” according to Realtor.com.

The metros that posted the biggest drops in listings of for-sale homes in the last year are:

1. Oakland, Calif.: -51.91 percent year-over-year drop in total listings

2. Bakersfield, Calif.: -50.35 percent

3. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.: -48 percent

4. Fresno, Calif.: -45.56 percent

5. Miami: -42.34 percent

6. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: -39.66 percent

7. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.: -39.38 percent

8. Atlanta: -39.26 percent

9. Orlando: -39 percent

10. Portland-Vancouver, Ore.-Wash.: -38.79 percent

11. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.: -37.35 percent

12. Stockton-Lodi, Calif.: -36.18 percent

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News

© SeattleHome.com - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Coldwell Banker Danforth

Seattle | Bellevue | Kirkland | Redmond | Mercer Island | More
Waterfront Homes | Condos | Houseboats and Floating Homes

Seattle Homes | Coldwell Banker Danforth | 206.552.8820
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Brokers (at) SeattleHome.com