For-Sale Supply Grew in October

In October 2018, the supply of for-sale homes increased 3 percent, the first annual gain of more than 1 percent since December 2014.

Though, the gain doesn't erase the supply drops over the past several years: in December 2014, the for-sale housing stock numbered 1.96 million, while October 2018's supply level was 1.62 million. Interestingly, the supply of homes valued at the bottom third of the nation's supply grew 6.8 percent annually in October, topping the 3.7 percent annual growth in September and 0.6 percent growth in August. Prior to that, the last inventory gain for these homes was in September 2014, says Zillow director of economic research Aaron Terrazas.

Meanwhile, the inventory of homes in the top tier nationally has been steadily high and is now falling – by 1.6 percent in October from a year earlier. The major metro with the greatest increase in inventory was San Jose, Calif., where inventory climbed 93.1 percent. San Diego was next, at 43.5 percent, followed by San Francisco at 41.6 percent. The largest decreases were in Las Vegas (down 15.9 percent), Pittsburgh (down 10 percent) and Virginia Beach (down 9.4 percent).

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