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RISMEDIA, February 9, 2010—January 2010 marked the first time in 18 months that more homes were listed “for sale” compared to the previous month, with an additional 15,000 homes, or a 2.9% increase, listed for sale compared to December 2009 according to the January Housing Inventory Index, a survey of Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listed homes in 27 major U.S. housing markets conducted by the national real estate brokerage ZipRealty. 

Additional highlights from ZipRealty’s January Housing Inventory Index include:

-The number of home listings year-over-year remains down 22.3%, with 163,000 fewer homes on the market.

-The combined number of MLS-listed single family homes and condos within the 27 major U.S. markets surveyed in January totaled 567,265, up from 551,447 in December.

-Markets in California showed significant jumps in inventory in January with month-over-month increases of 10.1% in the San Francisco Bay Area, 8% in Orange County, 4.5% in Los Angeles, and 6.5% in San Diego.

-Baltimore was one of only two markets where the number of homes listed for sale decreased, at a modest 1.9%. In Miami, ZipRealty tracked a minor decrease of .05%.

-The average median list price of $258,634 was relatively flat in January, down 1% (or $2,521).

“Serious sellers need to list their home now, rather than wait for the spring, to capitalize on buyers looking to take advantage of the tax credit extension,” said ZipRealty President and CEO Patrick Lashinsky. “While the number of homes for sale is starting to increase, we are still seeing some markets with a shortage of homes for sale.”

For more information, visit www.ziprealty.com.

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