Top 10 metros for shrinking inventory
May continued April's year-over-year upswing, with for-sale inventory dropping 20.07 percent, median list prices jumping 3.17 percent to $194,900, and median age of for-sale inventory falling 9.78 percent compared to a year ago.
Data Point | Percent Change, May 2012 vs. May 2011 |
Number of Listings | -20.07% |
Median List Price | 3.17% |
Median Age of Inventory | -9.78% |
As of May, national for-sale inventory stood at 1.88 million units, roughly 60 percent of a September 2007 inventory peak of 3.1 million units (2007 was the first year Realtor.com tracked this data nationally).
Despite a slight 1.96 percent month-over-month increase in national inventory -- expected because listings usually swell during the springtime buying season -- all but two of the 146 metros Realtor.com tracks had fewer homes for sale than a year ago.
Some of those markets hit hardest in the housing crisis -- Atlanta and metros in Florida, Arizona and California -- are showing some consistent, month-by-month turnaround. In May, Phoenix, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., and Atlanta were among the top 10 metros Realtor.com tracks with year-over-year percentage drops in for-sale inventory.
This month, six of the metros in the top 10 that saw the greatest reduction in inventories from a year ago were in California, including three in the San Francisco Bay Area: Oakland at No. 1 (56.6 percent fewer listings than a year ago); San Jose at No. 6 (40.88 percent fewer listings); and San Francisco at No. 10 (38.9 percent fewer listings).
Top 10 metros for greatest year-over-year reduction in for-sale inventory, May 2012
Rank | Metro | For-sale inventory, percent change, May 2012 vs. May 2011 |
1 | Oakland, Calif. | -56.60% |
2 | Fresno, Calif. | -48.76% |
3 | Bakersfield, Calif. | -48.59% |
4 | Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. | -44.71% |
5 | Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. | -42.65% |
6 | San Jose, Calif. | -40.80% |
7 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. | -39.76% |
8 | Stockton-Lodi, Calif. | -39.25% |
9 | Atlanta | -39.19% |
10 | San Francisco | -38.90% |
Source: Realtor.com
Editor's note: Data collected and analyzed by Realtor.com through May 2012. Includes single-family homes, condos, townhomes and co-ops. The national housing market continues to stabilize, according to data compiled by Realtor.com for 146 U.S. metros through May 2012
http://www.inman.com/news/2012/06/13/top-10-metros-shrinking-inventory