Inventories of for-sale homes have
dropped significantly this year, helping to stabilize housing prices but
also limiting the number of homes sold, The Wall Street Journal
reports.
The large inventory drops have been attributed to home owners waiting
out the market for price increases, investors snagging up houses, fewer
bank foreclosures, and builders curbing production.
But the low inventories are helping home prices to rebound. “Large
drops in inventories have whittled away the discount at which
foreclosures sell in many markets, which has further contributed to big
price gains,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Source: “2013: The Year Home Inventory Hits a Bottom,” The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 19, 2012)