Housing Inventory Eases, But No Recovery In Sight

This post first appeared on Minyanville, and our sister site, Dawn Patrol.

Another month, another attempt to use a single data point to foretell the bottom in the housing market.

On the same day the Case Shiller Home Price Index reported the fastest drop in home prices on record (again), the Wall Street Journal released analysis indicating beaten down markets are beginning to work through inventory overhangs.

Shrinking supply in the most troubled markets is likely a blip, however, as volatile trading in distressed assets is driving the real estate market in these areas.

According to the Journal, metro areas like Sacramento, California, Denver, San Diego and Las Vegas actually reported a decline in housing inventory from a year earlier. Supply is still well above historical averages but, the report argues, if this trend continues it could usher in the end to the real estate slump.

But in cities like Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Charlotte, North Carolina and New York, where home price declines are just beginning, the backlog of unsold homes is piling up. Supply in New York and Portland is up 31% and 28% respectively. Stagnant prices and swelling inventory are signs of a market that's about to crack.

Even in markets poised for a correction, real estate brokers desperate for sales commissions are frantically pounding the table, calling this the buying opportunity of a lifetime.

Meanwhile, back in a world still loosely based on reality, easing inventory is a result of changing market dynamics, not an imminent bottom.

First, in troubled areas like California’s Central Valley and Inland Empire, (east of Los Angeles) Phoenix and Las Vegas, foreclosure and other distressed sales account for almost half the total transactions. As vulture funds and other investors swoop in to purchase delinquent mortgages and abandoned houses, such opportunistic buying has reduced inventory.

Small boutique investment firms, big hedge funds and Investment banks like Lehman Brothers (LEH), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Merrill Lynch (MER) are driving these markets. Some are buying foreclosed homes en masse, while others are snapping up delinquent mortgage at a deep discount. As the new owner of the loan tries to sort things out with the borrower, homes previously for sale come off the market.

The majority of these properties, however, will just end up for sale again: Almost half the delinquent mortgages traded in this market ultimately end up in foreclosure. Investment banks and hedge funds aren’t in the business of owning portfolios of residential real estate, so in a few months they’ll start punting homes at further discounted prices.

Second, year-over-year comparisons for real estate and mortgage data are about to get a lot easier. Think back to the beginning of the credit crunch last summer - the mortgage market all but shut down. Real estate transactions ground to a halt, inventory spiked and price declines began to accelerate.

For as bad as the real estate market is today -- and while prices have certainly come down -- activity last year around this time was even worse.

In the next few months, new calls for a bottom will ring out. But given that so-called experts have been calling for a bottom since, well, the top, Minyans would be wise to continue to wait patiently for real signs this has occurred.

House of the Day Results: Falling Over Fallbrook

Click here for details on this House of the Day

Value: $250,000
Projection: Depreciating

Fallbrook is located in Eastern San Diego County, just south of Temecula along Interstate 5. The city and the surrounding area are being adversely effected by the economic slowdown, as much of the growth in the area was due to new home construction. High gas prices are also weighing on consumer spending in an area dominated by commuters. As a result, home prices have fallen dramatically from their peak in late 2005 and continue to fall.

Our property is centrally located, making it more desirable than those on the outskirts of town. There are, however, many listings in the subject's immediate vicinity. The property also requires some "TLC," which indicates its condition is likely inferior to its neighbors. Listings in the area range from $273,900 - $549,000. Only three properties have sold in the area since April 15th, all of which are superior in quality to the subject.

515 Shady Glen road - aside from having a suspect address - is a similarly sized home, but in turn key condition. It sold for $265,000 on 6/19/08. The subject is on a slightly larger lot, but the inferior condition, combined with the weak local economy, high gas prices and an oversupply of houses place the value of the subject property at $250,000. Further declines are likely in the near future.