Housing Inventory Crunch Could Be Easing

Housing inventory has jumped by 25% so far this year, outpacing normal seasonal increases. There were some 1.85 million homes listed for sale at the beginning of May, which is still historically low. Still, the upturn in listings so far this year suggests rising home prices are encouraging more buyers to test the market. So far this year inventories have increased by around 375,000 through April compared to increases of just 45,000 for the same period in 2011 and 108,000 in 2012. Still, the increase is lower than the jump of 442,000 in 2010, when tax credits fueled a surge in housing
demand.

Wall Street Journal  June 13, 2013