Inventory Correlates With How Long Homes Are On The Market

Housing inventory has dropped 20 percent in five years. With fewer available homes, buyers are working quickly to purchase what they can get.

Trulia’s most recent Inventory and Price Watch report found a strong correlation between rates of inventory and the average time that homes spend on the market. Metros that have had the steepest drop in available homes also have fewer homes on the market after two months.

Over the past year, the number of available starter homes and trade-up homes declined by 15.6 and 13.1 percent, respectively, pushing buyers to spend more of their income toward a purchase. 

Since 2012, the share of homes still on the market after two months has dropped 10 percentage points, from 57 percent then to 47 percent today.

The fastest markets are out West. In places such as San Jose, Oakland, Seattle, San Francisco, less than 25 percent of homes are still on the market after two months. Salt Lake City and San Diego are among the other ultra-competitive markets.

The slowest moving markets are predominantly in the South and Northeast. Each of the top 10 slowest moving markets are east of the Mississippi, with the highest concentration in Florida and South Carolina. For example, more than 54% of homes are still on the market after two months in three large Florida metros – Sarasota , Cape Coral-Fort Myers, and Miami (62.3% and number one on our list).

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