We’re all waiting for Chicagoland’s housing inventory situation to improve…but that has yet to happen.
The inventory situation in Chicagoland continued to worsen in 2014, according to new numbers from realtor.com.
Per realtor.com’s analysis, inventory in Chicagoland dropped by 9.7 percent from November to December, and is down a hefty 21 percent from Dec. 2013; so in other words, inventory in our area fell 21 percent in 2014, nearly four times that of the national average.
Inventory and Home Sales – A Cyclical Relationship
It’s the ongoing issue in housing, and one that we just can’t seem to overcome: sales activity is low because inventory is low; until more quality inventory hits the marketplace, sales activity will remain low; but in order for more quality inventory to hit the market, a number of market developments – which we’ve detailed in past coverage – must occur; and thus far, none of those developments have occurred for the majority of potential sellers.
See our graph below for a fuller understanding of how our inventory woes compare with the rest of the nation.
Gee, I wonder if one of the problems might be the efforts of the secondary market to stall appreciation? Couple that with the number of people that are un/under-employed and it’s easy to understand why inventory is down.