Inventory shrinkage: Puget Sound ranked No. 7 in U.S.

The Seattle-Bellevue-Everett region was ranked No. 7 in the U.S. by Realtor.com in its top 10 housing markets for a shrinking number of homes on the market, fresher inventory, and an increase in median list price.

In 146 metros tracked by Realtor.com, the number of for-sale listings was down 21 percent in March compared to a year ago. All but two markets – Philadelphia and Hartford, Conn. – saw listing inventory decline, and 78 markets registered declines of 20 percent or more.

The Seattle-Bellevue-Everett inventory was down 39.38 percent from a year ago and the median list price was $314,900. Realtor.com reported.
Nationwide, the median number of days a home had been on the market was down nearly 20 percent, to 89 days, and median list price was up 5.6 percent, to $189,900.

In March 2011, Realtor.com statistics also showed for-sale listing inventory down about 9 percent from a year ago. But inventory age was up 26 percent at the time.

As a sign of a shift in the housing market, none of this March’s year-over-year top 10 metros for for-sale listings drops were in last year’s top 10.