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Thursday, November 10, 2005

Housing Inventory: DC and Tucson

by Calculated Risk on 11/10/2005 01:28:00 PM

Inventories continue to rise. The following graph (thanks to DC Broker DC1000) shows sales and active listing over the last year:


Click on graph for larger image.

Although inventories have surged since August, the ratio of inventory to sales is only 3.44 - still low by historical standards.

Also, prices have been mostly flat over the last 7 or 8 months. And days on market hasn't risen substantially yet.

In Tucson, The Daily Star reports: Tucson-area home-price rise resumes. The lead is the small increase in area prices, but inventories reached a ten year high:

Tucson-area home values broke out of a four-month malaise in October, with the median sale price increasing by $5,000 to $224,000.

But the number of homes available for sale in the metropolitan area has reached a 10-year-high, suggesting that Tucson's housing market is becoming more favorable to buyers.
...
Although active listings climbed to 5,330, the market appears healthy, said Judy Lowe, president of the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. With more homes for sale, Vest said, the market pendulum is swinging back toward buyers, but it "still has a long way to go."
...
The number of houses sold was down 2.6 percent, from 1,404 in September to 1,368 in October. October's sales were still up by 5.6 percent compared with the 1,295 homes sold in October 2004.
Tucson's inventory to sales ratio is now 3.9 months.