Housing Inventories Fall in Major Cities

The supply of homes dipped 2.4 percent in a year-over-year change in 12 of 18 cities where ZipRealty Inc. does business, the brokerage says.

The data covers listings of single-family homes, condos, and town houses for sale on local multiple-listing services. This is the first decline since the firm began keeping tabs in mid-2006.

The data doesn’t include New York City, but Miller Samuel Inc., an appraisal firm, says the city’s inventory was up 31 percent compared to June of 2007 because Wall Street firms have cut jobs.

The following is a list of cities and their percentage of inventory decline:

• Boston: -10%
• Dallas: -10.6%
• Houston: -2.4%
• Las Vegas: -18.5%
• Los Angeles: -7.4%
• Minneapolis: -4.8%
• Orange County, Calif.: -15%
• Orlando: -3.1%
• Phoenix: -2.6%
• Sacramento: -22.4%
• San Diego: -6.7%
• Tampa, Fla.: -7%

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (07/10/08)