Housing Inventories Drop, List Prices Rise
The age of the inventory is also declining, and is nearly 5 percent below levels last January.
The median age of for-sale housing inventory is lowest — 69 days or less — in Oakland, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Denver; Fresno, Calif.; Stockton-Lodi, Calif. and Phoexnis-Mesa, Ariz., according to January data from Realtor.com.
Meanwhile, as inventory is falling, the median list price has been on the rise: up nationally more than 3 percent year-over-year.
“Over the past year, an increasing number of markets have registered year-over-year increases in median list prices while fewer markets have experienced year-over-year list price declines,” a statement by Realtor.com notes.
The metro areas with the highest increases to median list prices year-over-year, from January 2011 to January 2012 are:
1. Miami, Fla.: 32.75%
Median list price (in January 2012): $265,500
2. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.: 21%
Median list price: $229,900
3. Punta Gorda, Fla.: 19%
Median list price: $179,000
4. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla: 18.6%
Median list price: $224,150
5. Boise City, Idaho: 18.15%
Median list price: $151,228
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News