For sale: fewer homes
About 10 percent fewer homes were for sale in the Baltimore metro area last month than a year earlier. So says real estate brokerage ZipRealty in a new analysis of data on the multiple-listing service.
That's the direction you want things going if you're rooting for a market where the number of homes and interested buyers are more or less equal.
Not-so-good news: Most of the metro areas ZipRealty tracked in September saw bigger drops.
The company looked at 26 large regions, from Austin to Washington, and said inventory decreased more than 10 percent in all but seven. The number of homes for sale is down by 33 percent -- a full third -- in D.C. And Los Angeles has less than half the inventory now that it did a year ago.
UPDATE: Several readers have suggested making it clear that we're talking about homes listed for sale, as opposed to homes that people would really like to sell but haven't listed or have actually pulled off the market. Seems to me it's not truly for sale if you're not telling anyone about it, but no question there's shadow inventory out there.
Another notable stat from ZipRealty's analysis: The average listing in the Baltimore metro area has had two price reductions. I couldn't find an online link to the inventory report, but the price information is here.
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Comments
Minor editorial adjustment:
"About 10 percent fewer homes were LISTED for sale..."
One word that might appear obvious to some can completely change the meaning of what follows.
just sayin'. ;)
Posted by: MrRational | October 13, 2009 9:50 AM
Nice reference to another post. :-)
So you don't think "were for sale" is clear? Or is there another meaning that I'm missing?
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | October 13, 2009 10:24 AM
The one I capitalized.
Referring to the teeming masses of properties yearning to be set free that indeed are "for sale" but simply aren't listed (for all sorts of reasons).
Posted by: MrRational | October 13, 2009 10:41 AM
I could also imagine that not everything is listed that is for sale. It appears that the number of hands (i.e. "owners") had diminished, so they would attack own prices if everything went for sale at once.
Posted by: ROn | October 13, 2009 12:40 PM
aka Shadow Inventory...and the shadow is as large as a solar eclipse!!
Posted by: Darwin Rules | October 13, 2009 1:10 PM
There was a delay in posting the inventory data to the ZipRealty blog. The chart is now currently available for viewing. If you would like more detail please click on the link below:
http://ziprealty.typepad.com/marketconditions/2009/10/ziprealty-home-inventory-by-metro-september-2009.html
Posted by: John Oldham | October 13, 2009 2:05 PM
Mr. Rational is correct.
As a realtor quoted in your recent post stated, many would-be listings are being rejected by realtors because the sellers are asking for an unrealistic price or can't sell because they are too far underwater (and can't bring enough money to the closing table).
The number of homes listed for sale is becoming less and less a reliable measure of the overall available housing inventory.
Posted by: John | October 13, 2009 3:38 PM
I agree that listings are distorted in this climate. Anyone who is seriously ready to sell their home, but feels they can possibly manage to postpone a year or so would not be "listing" now, or may have taken it off the market. That said, buyers are faced with choosing among what IS listed.
Posted by: Lisa | October 14, 2009 3:20 AM