decline in housing inventory and foreclosures in Irvine

[financeguy_IHB]

I've noticed that the inventory of properties for sale in Irvine has dropped significantly since last summer. I imagine that this is due to seasonality and the various temporary foreclosure freezes going on. I was wondering if any one new when the inventory, and foreclosures in particular, might pick up again.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Chuck_IHB]

I've seen this as well, and I attribute it to seasonality and people pulling lisitings once the holidays hit. I think most people expect an increase in inventory beginning in March/April. It will be interesting to see if this leads to people (primarily realtors) stating that we have hit bottom ("time to buy before you are priced out forever!") when I beleive any small price increases will be just a temporary spike followed by continued declines......

 

[ipoplaya_IHB]

It more than just seasonality. Inventory was very high in 2007 and declined comparatively last year due increasing sales volumes. Days on the market came down quite a bit during 2008. Combine that with less foreclosure flow at the end of 2008, and you get inventory that has decreased substantially.



More places are starting to come on the market and will do so over the next few months, but we'll probably only see 800-850 units on the market at peak this year unless the foreclosures really pick up later in the year.