Index: Inventories shrank again in August

The number of for-sale listings in 26 metro markets where ZipRealty operates declined 1.8 percent from August to September, the company said, marking the 15th consecutive month-over-month decline in housing inventory.

Inventories shrank from month to month in all but four of the markets covered in ZipRealty's Housing Inventory Index, the company said. Inventories of single-family homes and condos were up in Boston (2.2 percent), Baltimore (1.5 percent), Sacramento (1.3 percent), and Charlotte, N.C. (0.2 percent).

Markets with the largest month-over-month inventory declines were Austin and Los Angeles (-4.7 percent), Las Vegas (-4.4 percent), Orange County, Calif. (-4 percent), Miami (-3.5 percent), Salt Lake City (-3.4 percent), Orlando (-3.3 percent) Minneapolis-St. Paul (-2.6 percent), Dallas-Fort Worth (-2.4 percent), and Chicago (-2.3 percent).

Looking back a year, inventories were down 27.1 percent, with all 26 markets seeing declines. The largest reductions were in Los Angeles (-56.5 percent), the San Francisco Bay Area (-48.9 percent), Las Vegas (-46.8 percent), Phoenix (-42.3 percent), and Miami (-38.5 percent).

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