Home Sales 'Sputtering' Despite Strong Homebuyer Demand, Experts Cite Low Inventory

The number of homes for sale in the U.S. dropped 12.2 percent, the sharpest year-over-year decline in inventory since 2013.

Only eight of the 74 metros Redfin targets posted year-over-year increases in housing inventory. The San Jose metro area had the biggest inventory drop and corresponding price increase year-over-year with fewer than half as many homes for sale in October 2017 than in 2016. Prices rose 19.2 percent to a median of $1.05 million.

Nationally, the typical home spent 44 days on the market, five days fewer than last October. In San Jose, the typical home that sold found a buyer in 12 days. Last month, average sale-to-list price ratio was 98.2 percent, up from 97.9 percent a year earlier, and 22.5 percent of homes sold above their list price, compared with 21.5 percent in October 2016.

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