US Housing Recovery: Housing: Inventory down 23% YOY in September
Housing: Inventory down 23% year-over-year in early September
by Bill McBride on 9/04/2012 01:55:00 PM
According to the deptofnumbers.com for (54 metro areas), inventory is off 22.6% compared to the same week last year.
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Click for larger image
This graph shows the NAR estimate of existing home inventory through July (left axis) and the HousingTracker data for the 54 metro areas through early September.
Since the NAR released their revisions for sales and inventory last year, the NAR and HousingTracker inventory numbers have tracked pretty well.
On a seasonal basis, housing inventory usually bottoms in December and January and then increases through the summer. Inventory only increased a little this spring and has been declining for the last four months by this measure. It looks like inventory has peaked for this year.
Click for larger image
The second graph shows the year-over-year change in inventory for both the NAR and HousingTracker.
HousingTracker reported that the early September listings, for the 54 metro areas, declined 22.6% from the same period last year.
This decline in active inventory remains a huge story, and the lower level of inventory is pushing up house prices.
