RISMEDIA, January 25, 2010—The number of home listings within 27 major U.S. metropolitan areas dropped significantly in December 2009 by 4.8%, compared to a month prior, and is down 26.3% compared to December 2008, according to a monthly report of homes listed for sale on Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in the 27 markets surveyed by ZipRealty, a national real estate brokerage.
December also marked the eighteenth consecutive month-over-month decline in the total number of home listings in the 27 markets, according to the survey.
Other highlights from ZipRealty’s December Housing Inventory Index include:
-The combined number of MLS-listed single family homes and condos within all 27 major U.S. markets in December totaled 551,447, down from 579,413 in November.
-December marked the largest month-over-month decline in home listings in 2009.
-Markets with significant month-over-month inventory declines include Boston (13.3%), the San Francisco Bay Area (12.1%), Denver (9.2%), Minneapolis-St. Paul (9%) and Seattle (7.9%).
-Phoenix was one of only two markets where the number of homes listed for sale increased, at a modest 1.8 percent. In Sacramento, ZipRealty tracked a minor increase of .01%.
“Seasonality and the heavy activity by first-time home buyers in October 2009 and November 2009, who were rushing to take advantage of the tax credit, impacted housing inventory in December,” said ZipRealty president and CEO Patrick Lashinsky.
For more information, visit www.ziprealty.com.
