Housing Inventory Increases for Spring Selling Season

By Kyle Chezum Updated on 4/12/2011

Housing inventory is increasing across the nation as sellers prepare to take advantage of what is typically the strongest buying and selling season of the year, spring.  On the whole, inventory increased by about 3% during the month of March and has increased by a total of 6.83% over the course of the year thus far.   These numbers were compiled by Altos Research, which monitors the top ten metropolitan areas and tracks housing data.

The Boston metropolitan area showed the strongest increase in inventory.  Homeowners in the city placed 16% more properties on the market in March than previously.  Other metro areas, such as New York and Philadelphia, added about 8% more properties.

There's no question that homebuyers this season will have a massive stock of homes to choose from. Shadow inventory from the foreclosure crisis continues to enter the market as foreclosures reach completion across the nation, and short sales continue to be plentiful.  Alongside the increased inventory, home prices have continued to decrease, removing some barriers to entry for first time home buyers but arguably not the right ones.

Will sales pick up in accordance with this inventory increase?  There's a good chance that the answer will be yes, but probably not by as much of a margin as real estate professionals are hoping.