Home inventory down 28 percent in September

According to Department of Numbers, the home sales inventory in the Denver area fell again in September, dropping 28 percent to 14,300 homes. September was the  19th month in a row during which the inventory has fallen year over year.

Unfortunately, the Department of numbers data only goes back to 2006, but the Denver-area inventory was 37,600 during July 2006. the first graph shows the decline in inventory over the past six year:

During September 2011, the inventory was 20,064.

So far this year, single-family building permits are only up about 35 percent from last-year's very low numbers, and population in-migration continued to be solid through 2011. So unless home building picks up significantly or in-migration lessens significantly, the home sales inventory is likely to continue to be tight.