The Biggest Inventory Swings in 2013
Depending upon where they are looking in the country, buyers could have a lot more or a lot less to choose from. Now that 2013 is over, Movoto, a national online real estate brokerage based in San Mateo, Calif. looks at cities where inventory conditions have changed most over the year. The brokerage tracks 38 cities across the nation.
They note that the total number of available homes increased from 92,735 in December 2012 to 96,495 in December 2013, marking around a 4 percent change nationwide. Twenty of the cities they track had an increase in inventory, with these three cities at the top of the list:
- Sacramento: Potential home buyers in Sacramento have about 92 percent more homes to chose from than they did a year ago. During the 12-month period, Sacramento’s inventory increased from 727 to 1,393.
- Las Vegas: The number of homes on the market in Las Vegas increased by about 83 percent in the past 12 months. In December 2012, there were 3,368 homes on the market, while there were 6,178 at the end of last month.
- San Diego: While not as significant as Sacramento or Las Vegas, San Diego saw an increase of about 57 percent in its inventory over the 12-month period, the number of homes on the market going from 1,192 to 1,873.
While many cities saw decreases in inventory, the change was not as dramatic as those that saw increases. The cities that had the greatest decreases in available homes were:
- Houston: The number of available homes decreased by about 19 percent, going from 6,861 to 5,556.
- Boston: Inventory in Boston dropped by about 18 percent from December 2012 to December 2013. In 2012 there were 677 homes for sale, a figure that had dropped to 544 a year later.
- San Francisco: In December there were 278 homes on the market, down from 336 a year prior, which is about a 17 percent decrease.
Source: “State Of The Real Estate Market January 2014,” Movoto Blog (Jan. 7, 2014)
