October 14, 2011 (Chris Moore)
The inventory of available homes for sale in the United States is 20 percent lower than a year ago but it’s still taking longer to sell them according to the latest data housing of 146 metro areas released by Realtor.com
Total listings of existing homes decreased 3.27 percent from August with a total of 2,193,170 single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops listed for sale in September compared to 2,267,327 in August. The number of homes listed for sale in September was 20.09 percent lower than a year ago.
The median list price for an existing home in September was $190,000, up 0.05 percent from $189,900 posted in the previous two months. The median list price was 1.60 percent higher than in September 2010.
The area with the largest year-over-year decline in the median list price for the third consecutive month was Chicago where the median list price was 11.56 percent lower than September of 2010. Las Vegas came in at a close second with a decline of 11.05 percent.
The area with the largest year-over-year increase in the median list price, for the fourth consecutive month, was the Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL, area where the median list price was 34.46 percent higher than in September of last year. Miami continued to run a close second with year-over-year median list prices increasing by 25.63 percent followed by Naples, FL, with an increase of 23.41 percent.
The average number of days that an existing home spent on the market climbed to 107 in September compared to 103 days in August and is now at the same level as September of last year. Seventy-six out of the 146 metropolitan areas required 100 days or more to sell a home.
Residents selling their homes in the southern region of South Carolina waited the longest to sell their homes, averaging 177 days on the market, while the folks in Denver had the shortest wait, averaging 46 days on the market.
Tags: Realtor.com, housing inventory, listed homes, home prices, median sales price, average list price
Source:
Realtor.com
