Home Prices Rise As Inventory Falls In December

The number of homes for sale posted its largest year-over-year decline in more than three years in December.

Redfin reports that inventory dropped 12.7 percent last month, the sharpest drop off since April 2013. The number of new homes added to the market fell 5.2 percent from 2015 and 26.8 percent from November.

Following an extraordinarily strong November for home sales, there were very few homes left to choose from in December, leaving the total number of homes for sale in the markets Redfin tracks the lowest it has been in three years.

Meanwhile, the national median home sale price increased 4.7 percent to $267,600 in December.

Redfin also notes that Seattle is the fastest market with the highest price growth, that Detroit had the largest decrease in overall inventory, and that 13 out of 90 metros experienced double-digit sales increases from 2015.

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