It’s no secret that the homes-for-sale inventory has been low for months. If we tack on the affordability, the inventory available to first-time buyers has been even lower.
While this situation might be changing, there are some countervailing forces that buyers have to contend with. Rising mortgage interest rates raise the monthly mortgage payment. That, in turn, can reduce sales which then leads to fewer affordable new homes being built and fewer homeowners willing to sell and move up.
Researchers at Realtor.com noted that in the first six months of this year, the inventory listed on the firm’s website was 18.2% lower than in the same period in 2015. In January 2009, the number of homes on the market totaled 14.3 million; in January of 2018, that total was just 6.2 million.
Some U.S. cities are worse off than others. Realtor.com researchers looked at the number of homes on the market in 50 metro areas for the first six months of 2018 and the same period in 2015. Then they calculated the drop in square footage in each market by multiplying the drop in total homes in each metro area by the average square footage of homes in each area.
Here are the 10 cities where inventory levels are the lowest. Realtor.com limited the list to one city from any state.
- Sacramento, California
Median list price: $453,000
Decrease in inventory: -55.1%
Drop in square footage for sale: 10.41 million - Charlotte, North Carolina
Median list price: $334,600
Decrease in inventory: -52.2%
Drop in square footage for sale: 17.26 million - Indianapolis, Indiana
Median list price: $260,000
Decrease in inventory: -49.6%
Drop in square footage for sale: 10.73 million - Buffalo, New York
Median list price: $190,000
Decrease in inventory: -47.1%
Drop in square footage for sale: 2.84 million - Detroit, Michigan
Median list price: $248,500
Decrease in inventory: -46.4%
Drop in square footage for sale: 16.3 million - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Median list price: $337,100
Decrease in inventory: 41.3%
Drop in square footage for sale: 12.69 million - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Median list price: $250,000
Decrease in inventory: -37.3%
Drop in square footage for sale: 4.95 million - Louisville, Kentucky
Median list price: $249,500
Decrease in inventory: -36.8%
Drop in square footage for sale: 3.45 million - Richmond, Virginia
Median list price: $311,500
Decrease in inventory: -36.8%
Drop in square footage for sale: 4.19 million - Seattle, Washington
Median list price: $552,600
Decrease in inventory: -35.1%
Drop in square footage for sale: 4.69 million
For more details visit the Realtor.com website.
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