America's Big, Fat Housing Inventory

October 30 2007 BusinessWeek.com The supply of homes for sale is at a nine-year high, and housing inventories across the U.S. are swelling dangerously. Houston, you have a problem—with housing inventory. And as the number of homes for sale in the country continues to creep upward thanks to waning demand, many other major U.S. cities are dealing with the same issue. At the current existing-home sales rate of 5.04 million units a year, it would take a full 10.5 months to sell the 4.4 million existing homes now on the market, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Oct. 24. The supply of existing single-family homes was at 10.2 months in September—the highest since February, 1988. Compare that with the height of the housing boom in January, 2005, when it reached a record low 3.6 months.

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