This article orginally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
With low supply, asking prices rise for fifth straight month
The number of homes listed for sale rose by 0.5 percent in June from May and was down 19.4 percent from a year ago, according to Realtor.com. Compared with one year ago, listings were down in all but two of the 146 markets tracked by Realtor.com. Inventory has fallen by nearly 58% in Oakland, Calif.; by 49% in Fresno, Calif.; by 47% in Bakersfield, Calif.; and by 43% in Seattle.
