The number of for-sale homes in the U.S. in December reached its lowest point in at least seven years, according to a new report from Zillow.
The December Zillow Real Estate Market Report found inventory fell 7.5 percent year-over-year to its lowest level since 2013.
“The end of 2019 looks a whole lot different than we might have expected at the beginning of the year,” Zillow Director of Economic Research Skylar Olsen said in a release. “A year ago, a combination of a government shutdown, stock market slump and mortgage rate spike caused a long-anticipated inventory rise.
“That supposed boom turned out to be a short-lived mirage as buyers came back into the market and more than erased the inventory gains,” Olsen said. “As a natural reaction, the recent slowdown in home values looks like it’s set to reverse back to accelerating growth right as we head into home shopping season with demand outpacing supply.”
The report found that inventory in December was down year-over-year in 31 of the 35 largest housing markets, including in Seattle (down 28.5 percent); San Diego (down 23 percent); and Sacramento (down 21.7 percent). San Antonio (up 8.1 percent); Detroit (up 7.6 percent); Atlanta (up 1.8 percent); and Chicago (up 0.6 percent) were the only exceptions.
Zillow said home values grew 3.7 percent to $244,054, down from 3.8 percent year-over-year growth last month. Home values grew the most in Phoenix (up 6.5 percent); Columbus, Ohio (up 5.9 percent); and Charlotte, N.C. (up 5.9 percent). Home values fell in San Jose, Calif. (down 6.4 percent) and San Francisco (down 1 percent).
During December, the typical U.S. rent was $1,600, up 2.6 percent but flat from November, Zillow found.