Fewer Homes for Sale

Some good news for the housing market: the number of homes for sale keeps dropping.

That is reassuring to anyone worried about the value of their home and the overall economy. For optimists, it's another sign that the housing market is healing. Even pessimists can take some comfort. Fewer homes for sale now will give the markets more resilience if foreclosures rise again and flood the market with more inventory.

The were a total of 579,413 homes on for sale in 27 major markets across the country as of November. That's about 14,000 less than in October and more than 100,000 less than a year ago, according to a count by ZipRealty of homes listed for sale on the Multiple Listings Services.