Housing Market 2023: 25 Places With the Fewest Homes Left for Sale
With interest rates up and inventory down, times are stuck on “difficult” for many prospective homebuyers.
Nationwide, the for-sale inventory of single-family homes stood at 824,595 in July, based on Zillow’s monthly data. If that sounds like a lot, it isn’t — at least relatively. The totals were down by nearly 103,000 year over year, a decline of about 11%. Inventory declines in many U.S. metro areas are even more pronounced.
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Meanwhile, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have topped 7% for the past four weeks, according to Freddie Mac. Rates have reached two-decade highs this year, on the heels of record lows during the pandemic, as the Federal Reserve continues its efforts to tame inflation.
Spikes in interest rates and inventory issues are intertwined. Homeowners who locked in low rates during the pandemic are less inclined to give them up and take on a significantly higher rate. In addition, investors took advantage of the lower rates in recent years, buying up larger percentages of housing inventory.
Declines in new construction — fueled by the pandemic, supply chain issues, labor shortages and inflation — also have eaten into available housing options.
For insights into the cities with the biggest inventory issues, GOBankingRates has analyzed Zillow’s most recent data on single-family residences in the nation’s 150 largest metro areas. Results have been compiled into a list of the bottom 25.
Eight of the 25 cities with the lowest inventory are located in California. Pennsylvania has the next highest total with four, followed by Oregon with two. Five of the cities on the list saw year-over-year drops of greater than 30%.
Only one city saw a gain in for-sale inventory but still made our list for lack of availability.
Read on for our countdown of cities with the lowest inventory, plus year-over-year figures for availability and percentage of change.
25. Oxnard, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 1,039
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -509
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -32.88%
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24. Salem, Oregon
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 987
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -114
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -10.35%
23. Stockton, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 982
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -636
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -39.31%
22. Peoria, Illinois
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 972
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -333
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -25.52%
21. Springfield, Massachusetts
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 969
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -405
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -29.48%
20. Eugene, Oregon
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 950
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -44
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -4.43%
19. Davenport, Iowa
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 905
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -127
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -12.31%
18. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 891
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -297
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -25%
17. Santa Rosa, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 890
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -66
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -6.9%
16. Anchorage, Alaska
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 870
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -277
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -24.15%
15. Brownsville, Texas
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 862
YoY change in for-sale inventory: +127
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: +17.28%
14. Tallahassee, Florida
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 847
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -163
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -16.14%
13. Fort Wayne, Indiana
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 805
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -151
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -15.79%
12. Canton, Ohio
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 794
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -149
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -15.8%
11. York, Pennsylvania
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 771
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -247
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -24.26%
10. Visalia, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 718
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -154
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -17.66%
9. Modesto, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 711
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -395
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -35.71%
8. Vallejo, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 624
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -356
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -36.33%
7. Lancaster, Pennsylvania
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 620
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -175
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -22.01%
6. Reading, Pennsylvania
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 613
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -177
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -22.41%
5. Trenton, New Jersey
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 605
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -376
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -38.33%
4. Ann Arbor, Michigan
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 545
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -171
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -23.88%
3. Manchester, New Hampshire
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 497
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -163
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -24.70%
2. Santa Maria, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 476
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -151
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -24.08%
1. Salinas, California
July 2023 for-sale inventory: 455
YoY change in for-sale inventory: -112
YoY percentage change in for-sale inventory: -19.75%
Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates used Zillow’s July 2023 data to find the following for the 150 largest metro areas: (1) for-sale inventory for single-family residences in July 2023; (2) the year-over-year numerical change in for-sale inventory of single-family residences; and (3) the year-over-year percent change in for-sale inventory of single-family residences. Only the first factor was considered in the final rankings. All data collected and up to date as of Sept. 6, 2023.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Housing Market 2023: 25 Places With the Fewest Homes Left for Sale
