Housing Inventory Continues to Move Down

The Wall Street Journal reports that the number of homes for sale in September dropped by 2.2% from August, by 17.8% from last year, and by 34.3% from two years ago.

Inventories have been falling amid stronger demand from home buyers, which are helping to firm up prices. The decline in inventory has frustrated home buyers who are not able to bid down prices for the first time in a long time.  This inventory decline is helping sellers who are now moving their houses at a slighter faster pace. 

Additionally the Census Bureau said that housing starts rose a remarkable 15 percent in September, to their highest rate since July 2008. Analysts had forecast a 2.7 percent gain. The number of housing permits also rose at a double-digit rate, 11.6 percent, compared with the 1.1 percent forecasters were predicting.

This latest news has prompted more and more economists to state that the housing industry has finally bounced off the bottom and that the market is indeed rebounding.