House hunters frustrated by a shortage of listings should consider the Sunshine State.
While overall U.S. home inventory continued to decline in July on a year-over-year basis, a fifth of the nation's 100 largest markets saw increases in supply, according to a report Wednesday from real estate search engine Trulia. Half of the top 10 gainers were communities in Florida.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Miami led the country with advances of 37% and 33%, respectively. Two other markets in the greater Miami area — West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale — saw increases, at 18% and 16%.
Tight inventory, combined with the struggles to save for a down payment and build credit to meet strict standards, has prevented prospective homebuyers from making a purchase, even as mortgage rates hover near historic lows. Overall inventory is down by more than 8% since the third quarter of 2014, and has been on the decline over the past several years in many of the largest markets, according to the data compiled by Trulia.
But recent double-digit gains in supply in certain regions offer a glimmer of relief for would-be buyers, and perhaps the latest sign of recovery in U.S. housing since the market bottomed out in 2012.
"Sustained price increases over the past several years are finally lifting up underwater homeowners to a point where they are financially comfortable with selling their home," said Trulia chief economist Ralph McLaughlin. "In addition, we've also seen a large increase in premium inventory in several markets, such as Miami and San Francisco."
San Francisco housing stock rose 19% over the past year, ranking seventh in inventory growth among the 100 markets tracked by Trulia.
Florida was one of the hardest-hit states in the housing crash, but home prices there have rebounded more than 40% since 2012. While 14% of mortgaged Florida homeowners still owed more than their properties were worth in the second quarter of this year, that share is down from over 50% in 2010, according to CoreLogic.
