For-Sale Real Estate Inventory Rises 11.2% in December

Largest year-over-year increases in San Diego, San Francisco areas

By Inman News, Friday, January 7, 2011

More homeowners listed their homes for sale in December compared to the same month the year before, according to a report from national real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

The number of multiple listing service listings for single-family homes and condominiums in 26 major markets rose 11.2 percent year-over-year in December, to 595,922 total.

Four out of the five markets experiencing the highest annual jumps in inventory are in California, and the fifth is in foreclosure-ridden Las Vegas, which saw its for-sale listings jump 50 percent.

Month-to-month, inventory has fallen four straight months, down 5.3 percent in December. All but one out of the 26 markets experienced a monthly drop. Orlando, Fla., remained essentially flat both month-to-month and year-over-year with 20,878 for-sale homes.

Chicago had the biggest inventory by volume in December, at 59,958 homes.

Total overall inventory peaked for the year in September 2010, with 675,872 homes for sale.