But, even more interestingly, we are now looking at only two months of inventory for single family houses! This figure shows that how little inventory there is to meet demand, potentially contributing to a surge in prices. Much of the current inventory is REO or short sales. However, the real inventory may be even higher: the published figures don’t take into consideration what is referred as “shadow inventory,” where banks are either delaying putting their inventory on the market, or are delaying foreclosure, meaning that some “zombie” properties are not being taken back . . . yet.

If you are interested in finding out how your particular area is doing, please email me and I will be happy to forward it to you.