New York, NY, November 15, 2006--The supply of homes for sale in major metropolitan areas declined modestly in October, a positive sign for sellers, new data shows.
The number of homes offered for sale on multiple-listing services in 18 major metro areas was down 1.2% in October from September's tally, according to data compiled by ZipRealty Inc., a real-estate brokerage company based in Emeryville, Calif. Those metro areas account for nearly a fifth of homes listed for sale nationwide.
Though inventories remain far above year-earlier levels, the decline during October suggests the market is starting to whittle down a surplus of homes that has weighed on prices over the past year or so. Another factor reducing inventories is that some sellers are taking homes off the market because they can't obtain what they consider an acceptable price.
ZipRealty's data show that the sharpest declines in home inventories in October were in the metro areas of Sacramento, Calif. (down 5.4% from a month before), San Diego (5.6%) and San Francisco (6.4%). Inventories rose 2.4% in the Seattle area and 3.7% in the Miami area, however. New condominiums have flooded the market in south Florida.
Home prices have declined recently in many areas of the country, including parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., area. Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp., a banking company based in Cleveland, says recent data on home inventories and mortgage applications suggest that home prices will be flat to slightly lower next year before starting a modest recovery in 2008.
