U.S. Home Inventory Falls Again, But California And Florida Markets Are Recovering

Home inventory has fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter, and the number of available homes has dipped eight percent since the third quarter of 2014.

A handful of cities, however, have experienced some large gains since last year. According to Trulia, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers market in Florida increased its inventory from 4,991 to 6,825, a 36.7 percent increase, from the third quarter last year to this year.

Miami (33.1 percent increase) and Las Vegas (29.8) also experienced significant increases in inventory since 2015. Many California cities, including Fresno (24.4 percent increase), San Francisco (19.3), Bakersfield (10.6), and San Diego (9.4), alleviated their housing crunches, too.

This is cautiously optimistic news for frustrated buyers in the Golden State, who have seen prices soar whilst inventory remained flat over the past few years. While prices aren’t likely to fall anytime soon because of healthy demand, growing inventory may help moderate the strong price gains that these markets have experienced since market bottom in 2012.

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