Real Estate Data

Tons of fun new features going on here at Altos Research. Today we get to announce AltosXplorer: our full database query and charting system, is now mobile! That's right folks, a couple terabytes of real estate statistics and pretty charts right at your fingertips.

Altos subscribers: Get your AltosXplorer mobile link by logging in to your account and selecting My Xplorer, Xplorer Mobile from the menu. Then send the URL to your phone. That's it! (You will, of course, need a phone with a web browser. And it'll need to have javascript enabled. My Blackberry did not have javascript enabled by default, FWIW.)

On your phone, you'll be able to select market area, city, zip code, and any of a bunch of different statistics. Want to take a peek at condo inventory trends while showing properties to a buyer client? Just a couple of clicks and you're at the data.

Lead Contact Form Goes Mobile Too!

Many of our realtor subscribers like to use the data to reach new clients. What do you do when you find yourself engaged in a conversation about the market with a someone? Well now you can say, "Here, let me send you a report, you can check for yourself." The AltosConnect mobile lead-sign-up form is super handy. Pop in their name and contact information and they'll have a local market report in their inbox before you're even done with the conversation. How cool is that? We rolled this out a couple weeks ago. Lots of positive response.

To get the link to the mobile version of your AltosConnect contact form widget, sign in to your account, select My Connect from the left hand menu, Save and Preview the widget, and enter your phone number. Again, that's it! Bookmark it on your phone and you'll always have access to your Altos database.

Give both features a try and let me know how they work for you!

We've been quietly rolling out new features for subscribers here at Altos World HQ over the past couple weeks. Today I get to announce a super cool new feature that our subscribers (especially the bloggers in that crowd) have been raving about. [sound the trumpets]

AltosStats Live Market Statistics Widget

Previously our widgets were trend charts. Plug in a chart to your site to illustrate the trend of one or two local real estate statistics. But the data is often just as interesting in a table format - the precise reading, right now. Good information density as Tufte likes to say. To whit:

We built the AltosStats widget to work like our other widgets. Just copy a little chunk of HTML and Poof! Live data on your site.

If you're an Altos Pro subscriber, here's how you can play: Log in to your account. Select the My Web Page menu item. Then click the Stats Widget link next to the market you want to display. That's it. All the data is live and all the formatting is done for you.

We made a skinny version too so you can drop one in the blog sidebar.

There you have it. Enjoy.

Our National Report is out this week. From the press release:

Housing Prices Down by 2.1% in January

Inventory levels

Mountain View, CA February 9 2009. The Altos 10 City Composite Price Index showed a decline in asking prices of 2.1% in January and 2.4% during the most recent three-month period. Prices of properties listed for sale fell in 23 of 26 major markets according to the Real Time Housing Market Report, jointly published by Altos Research, the premier source for real-time real estate data, and market analysis firm Real IQ.

Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in Las Vegas, down 5.4% during January, and 8.8% during the past three months. This marks the tenth consecutive month that Las Vegas has posted the fastest rate of declining prices among major markets. Listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Miami, up 1.5% in January. Price increases in these markets are functions of a shift in the class of properties rather than traditional buyer demand.

"Despite continuing decreases in inventory levels, asking prices remained on a steep downward path in January," said Michael Simonsen, CEO and co-founder of Altos Research. "The trends appear to be continuing. We can find no signs of a turn-around in the data as of the first week of February."

Inventory levels declined in most major markets with the exception of Portland, Seattle, Charlotte and Salt Lake City. Across the 10 City Composite Index markets, inventory declined by 3.3% in January and 9.7% during the most recent three-month period. Inventory fell by more than 5% in Detroit, Boston, Atlanta and Cleveland during January.

"Inventory levels generally increase in January as sellers anticipate the seasonally strong spring selling season," said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ. "So far we are seeing the opposite as inventory levels are continuing the decline they began in the summer of last year. The big test will come over the next few months as any increase in inventory will exacerbate the already large imbalance of housing supply and demand by adding to the existing overhang of available homes."

The median days-on-market rose in all markets during January staying above 100 or more days-on-market in every major market. By far, the market with the slowest rate of inventory turnover was Miami at a median of 189 days-on-market or more than six months. Miami has experienced the slowest market turnover in every month since September 2007. Salt Lake City enjoyed the fastest rate of turnover with a median days-on-market of 101.

The report is free, register here to download.

It's been rumored for weeks, but Microsoft made it official today, cutting 5000 jobs. Microsoft.

You're watching the last leg of the stool being kicked out. The tech industry held out longer than most this time around. In the first half of 2008 many of the highly compensated and generally well-financed people in the tech industry were keeping prices steady in the most desirable neighborhoods of the Bay Area and Seattle (notably waterfront properties). Then as the stock markets declined in the second half of the year, we lost a lot of down-payment money. Finally this crew is now worried about basic monthly income.

Here's how the housing market has been buffeted by the financial storm in Seattle.

I mentioned this to Aubrey Cohen at the Seattle PI in an interview last September as the job situation was starting to look bleak. "Seattle's drivers seem to be intact until the economy hits Microsoft and Amazon," I said at the time.

Well. Here we are.

We released our monthly national real estate report earlier this week. You can download the PDF here. Prices continued to fall in most markets. The Altos National 10-city Composite price fell 0.8% from October through November. Inventories are declining a little as would be expected in the fall.

Report: National Real Estate Prices Decline 0.8% in November 2008

The Altos Research National Real Estate Report measures current real estate data in major markets around the country. November data shows Las Vegas continuing to lead the country in home price declines. Inventory levels declined in most markets into the winter slow sales months.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA December 9, 2008 - The Altos 10-City Composite Price Index showed a decline in asking prices of 0.8% in November and 2.4% for the past three months. Prices of properties listed for-sale fell in 20 of 26 major markets according to the Real-Time Housing Market Report, published by Altos Research, the premier source for real-time real estate data, and market analysis consultancy Real IQ.

Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in Las Vegas - down 3.3% during November - and 6.9% over the most recent three-month period. This marks the eighth consecutive month that Las Vegas has posted the fastest rate of declining prices among major markets. Listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Houston - up 2.4% in November. Denver, Dallas and Houston are now the only markets showing three months of sequential price increases.

"Tight credit, job losses and plunging consumer confidence continued to pressure listing prices in most major markets during November," said Michael Simonsen, CEO and co-founder of Altos Research. "Recent government actions to reduce mortgage rates and slow the pace of foreclosures could finally start to stem the decline but we don't expect to see major changes until at least mid-2009."

Inventory levels declined in 24 of 26 major markets with only Phoenix and Las Vegas registering small increases. Across the 10-City Composite Index markets, inventory declined by 5.1% in November and 7.5% over the past three months. Inventory fell by the largest amounts in Boston, San Francisco and Seattle. "Inventory levels have continued to decline for many months and November was no exception," said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ. "The real estate industry continues to work through the large inventory overhang but only very slowly."

Twenty-four of 26 markets had an average days-on-market of 100 or more. The average days-on-market rose in all but one market, Las Vegas, where it was effectively flat during November. By far, the market with the slowest rate of inventory turnover was Miami at an average of 179 days-on-market. Miami has experienced the slowest market turnover in every month since September 2007. San Francisco enjoyed the fastest rate of turnover with an average days-on-market of 92.

The report examines housing pricing, inventory levels and market conditions in 26 major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington, DC. The Real-Time Real Estate Report is released every month.

We see a lot of good real estate data here at Altos. We see a lot of great presentations of that data too. We decided that we'd like to offer some recognition for the best stuff out there. So we thought it'd be fun to have a little awards ceremony. We'll call it the Data-Rich Realtors Awards.

A few guidelines:

• Despite the name, we'd like to honor people in all parts of the real estate world. Realtors, mortgage, investors, other service providers.
• The nominations are not limited to blogs. Though since many of the best publish their work on blogs, we expect that'll be a big part. There are tons of ways to analyze, present, and leverage data in the real estate business. All are welcome.
• Nominations are not limited to Altos Research clients. There's tons of data out there and we want to honor innovative analysis and useful presentation. (Though many Altos clients are indeed data-rich...)
• We're honoring people, not websites.
• Individuals who contribute to websites are indeed eligible.
• We'd like to honor brokerages or other firms, especially if you have the name of the person spearheading a great data project.

Nominate someone! (feel free to nominate yourself!)

Powered by Wufoo

Or email us: send name, web site, and other relevant info, like a particularly great blog, post to datarich@altosresearch.com

We'll take nominees through December 15, 2008

The Winners

Winners will be selected from the nominees by a panel of judges. We'll annouce the winners at the end of December. Nominate early, nominate often!

Some nice press coverage in BusinessWeek this week. We compile unique luxury real estate data for our friends at the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. If you stopped by the ILHM booth at NAR last week, you'd have seen the great report that their members have access to. The Institute launched the reports at the show.

Coincidentally, BusinessWeek called looking for insights on how the real estate market is performing at the very high-end. The short answer is that, while the luxury market held out longer than the low end, everyone is feeling the pain now.

"The entry level of the upper tier--the $500,000 price point and up--has been softening for a while," said Laurie Moore-Moore, founder and CEO of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, a Dallas-based group that trains high-end agents. "What we've also seen in the last month is huge uncertainty at the very top of the market. People want to know where are we headed, how serious [the downturn] is going to be, and what is the duration. There are enough questions that at even at the top of the market people are waiting and watching."

Here's how our Luxury Real Estate Market data works: We take the 10 highest-priced zip codes in 31 metro markets around the county (as long as their median price is over $500,000). We composite those zip codes together into a metro regional view (for example of the luxury real estate market in Los Angeles). Then we roll all the metros into a nation-wide view, which we call the ILHM National Composite.

The data and report are available only through ILHM and ILHM members. If you're interested in seeing all the detailed statistics at the national level, you can download the weekly National Luxury Market Report from ILHM. Institute members have access to the detailed luxury data in their local markets as well, which is cool.

Our latest article with Forbes.com is out. This one was a toughie. Their editors called and asked, "Where are the best selling suburbs for sellers right now?" It's a tough question because the answer, really, is no where.

Sure the best properties, properly priced, in the best neighborhoods, will find their buyers. In fact we documented surprising resiliency in some markets through the summer. But even though prices might be holding, demand continues to slip. By our Market Action Index, there are essentially no markets with demand levels high enough to call them "Seller's Markets". We settled on identifying ten suburbs whose demand trends (as measured by Market Action Index and days on market) simply weren't horrible.

My tongue-in-cheek quote for Matt at Forbes was,"If you have to sell your home, do it in one of these suburbs."

Full article at Forbes.com

Our latest National Real Estate Market Report is out today. Prices continuing their drop nationally, with some evidence that the price declines are even accelerating. Here's the press release. The November 7, 2008 PDF Report can be downloaded here.

Report: Real Estate Prices Decline by 1.5% in October
The Altos Research Real-Time Real Estate Report measures current real estate data in major markets around the country. The latest data shows home prices continuing their decline, dropping 1.5% in October. Inventory of available homes declined in all 26 markets monitored in the report, but demand levels are dropping faster than supply.

Mountain View, CA (PRWEB) November 9, 2008 -- The Altos 10-City Composite Price Index showed a decline in asking prices of 1.5% in October and 2.9% for the past three months. Prices of properties listed for-sale fell in 22 of 26 major markets according to the Real-Time Housing Market Report, published by Altos Research, the premier source for real-time real estate research, and market analysis consultancy Real IQ.

Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in Las Vegas - down 3.7% during October - and 7.1% over the most recent three-month period. This marks the seventh consecutive month that Las Vegas has posted the fastest rate of declining prices among major markets. Listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Denver - up 0.7% in October - followed by Houston where prices were up 0.6%. Denver and Houston are now the only markets showing three months of sequential price increases.

"The fleeting signs of price stability that we saw during the summer have now completely vanished," said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ. "October's stock market crash has crushed consumer confidence and housing price declines have resumed across most major markets."

Inventory levels declined in all 26 markets. Inventory fell by the largest amounts in Boston and Charlotte with inventory contracting 7.9% and 5.7% respectively. Several other markets showed inventory declines of more than four percent for the month including: San Jose, Detroit, Houston and Phoenix.

"During October the steady trend of declining inventory continued with every single market showing a drop," said Michael Simonsen, CEO and co-founder of Altos Research. "However, economic conditions have been eroding housing market demand faster than supply is contracting with the result that listing prices continue to fall."
Twenty-three of 26 markets had an average days-on-market of 100 or more. The average days-on-market rose in all 26 markets. By far, the market with the slowest rate of inventory turnover was Miami at an average of 172 days-on-market. Miami has experienced the slowest market turnover in every month since September 2007. Miami's rate of turnover is now twice as slow as San Francisco which enjoyed the fastest rate of inventory turnover at an average of 86 days-on-market.

Data in the Real-Time Housing Market Report is based on analysis of over one million properties currently listed for-sale in 26 metropolitan markets across the country. The report is the timeliest source of housing market data on current market activity.

The report examines housing pricing, inventory levels and market conditions in 31 major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington, DC. The Real-Time Real Estate Report is released every month.

About Altos Research
Altos Research LLC pioneered real-time real estate research. Founded in 2005, the company's information products serve investors, traders, and thousands of real estate professionals. Because real estate data is traditionally obscure and highly latent, Altos built the Real-Time Market Intelligence(TM) platform to monitor dozens of housing market metrics as they are right now in local markets across the country. The company publishes real estate reports and real estate data each week for thousands of zip codes around the country.

For years I've written about the function of NASDAQ stock wealth on prime Silicon Valley real estate. I like to summarize with this phrase, "You don't buy a $2 million home in Palo Alto with a $1.8 million sub-prime loan. You buy it with $1.35 million in NASDAQ capital gains and a $650,000 in financing."

That fact has buoyed real estate demand and prices from Saratoga through San Francisco in the past two years - even as the lower end of the market has been pummeled.

Consider this: two companies (and their stocks), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), minted several thousand local millionaires between 2004 and 2007. (The back-of-the-envelope calculation works like this: Of GOOG's 16,000 employees assume 5,000 locals are mostly vested. Assume they collectively own maybe 8% of the company. At GOOG's 2007 peak of $711/share that's $18 billion in local wealth created since 2004. AAPL has a similar scale from an $11 stock in 2004 to $190 peak, spread over maybe 8000 vested local employees, is an additional $13 billion of local capital gains wealth created in the preceding four years.)

Many of those newly wealthy want to buy a home. The result is that simply from Google and Apple you have hundreds or even thousands of buyers at the high-end of the market.

Couple this demand with the peculiar small-supply situation of the local region (limited new construction yields only a handful of available properties) - and you get the recipe for resisting the bursting bubble right up through the first half of 2008.

Local Realtors know that the supply side of the equation is not likely to change drastically. There are simply no homes being added in close-in Silicon Valley unlike, say suburban Phoenix.

So the recipe depends on capital-gains-wealth-driven demand.

And guess what? Year to date for 2008, both GOOG and AAPL are down by half. In the last 9 months or so, $15 billion of local wealth in just those two stocks has evaporated.

The bubble burst has only started to hit us.

[note: I am aware this is an over simplified argument. Home prices do not correlate with the movements of any one stock. We've checked. In some of these markets, they do correlate with movements in the NASDAQ as a whole, and we all know this isn't an isolated dip.]

Here are the Case Shiller Index numbers released today for July. No big surprise. Down of course. One percent more this month. Down 17% from July 2007. As I've been saying in the press lately, we've seen no signs of a bottom. Even before the crisis of the last couple weeks, pricing through September continues to be down sequentially.

As we've already measured, the next three months of the Case Shiller numbers continue their fall at the same pace. Price decreases through September have not accelerated. There are no signs of market inflection points yet either. Days on Market is climbing and Inventories are flat at best. Contact us if you want specifics on the CSI for a given future date or a given MSA market.

MSA	CSI July 2008	Change from June 2008	Year over year change
Boston	162.58	0.17%	-5.35%
Chicago	149.6	-0.35%	-9.95%
Denver	132.67	0.77%	-4.71%
Las Vegas	154.15	-2.75%	-29.90%
Los Angeles	192.55	-1.63%	-26.18%
Miami	186.84	-1.60%	-28.25%
New York	192.92	-0.76%	-7.41%
San Diego	172.2	-1.81%	-25.02%
San Francisco	156.88	-1.85%	-24.81%
Washington DC	195.49	-1.07%	-15.80%
10-City Composite	178.46	-1.09%	-17.49%

Our National Report for September data comes out later this week with the current view on the market rather than the backward looking stuff released today. Stay tuned for details

...what's going to happen to condo prices in Manhattan?

We've noted elsewhere that New York city real estate has managed hold up reasonably well while Rome burns, though 2009 is looking a bit smoky for condos in the financial services capital of the world. On the horizon watch the three confluential variables:

1. The layoffs be a-comin'
2. Bonuses are heading down for those who remain
3. The dollar is strengthening

Here's what we know about the Manhattan condo market as of September 12, 2008.

• Year over year, we see condo prices in Manhattan (all zips) basically flat at a median price right around $1.6 million.
• That buys you on average, incidentally, a 1200 square foot, 2 bed, 1 bath place in a 64 year old building. Of course the "average" condo in Manhattan is as elusive as the "average" family in the country. Let me know when you meet one. By the way, we're talking condos specifically here. NYC's bizzarro-world co-op structure is examined in different data.
• They've been on the market, on average, for over four months. My guess is that this number skews higher than it might feel like if you're actually shopping in Manhattan, because, more than anywhere else in the country, the best properties move with behind-the-scenes, my-broker-knows-someone kind of deals.
• [self promotional aside: if you want to dig into all these details yourself, start on our free data for New York, and register. Subscribe to the Condos report for NYC and dive into the parts of town you care about. end promotion]

Where do we go from here?

• Securities Industry employment fell by 11% in the last bubble burst. Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill, AIG: they're coming fast and furious this time too.
• It's well known that bonuses drive much of the seasonal demand, on the Street in the
  past couple years a very simple, very common trade has been to short the builders and go long commodities. The evaporated funds behind the long commodities positions alone are going to eat big chunks from the 2008 bonus pool.
• Other things eating at this year's bonuses - M&A is way down, IPOs are non-existent. New product innovation ("Hey," says some underwriter at AIG, "let's insure these sub-prime loans against losses! We can't lose!") is crushed by internal or governmental forces. The liquidity that leveraged it all. Sheesh, I get
  exhausted just listing the down forces.
• International money (particularly Europe and Middle East) has been a prop for New York real estate for over a year now. For some in the world, Manhattan real estate hasn't been this cheap in a long time. Likely a small percentage of over all transactions, these push the margins enough to keep a floor on demand and therefore prices. But now: The last couple months have seen a dramatic turn in the dollar as the European economy weakens also.

So, look, the top-end of most regional markets has weathered the storm so far (see the discussion on my Fox TV interview). And Manhattan is notably the top-end for the region. But the fact is we're just starting this recession and this time around it's a financials-led recession. The few factors keeping Manhattan condos afloat into 2008 are evaporating in front of our eyes. My guess: Median price for Manhattan condo will down 20% in 2009. That part is just a guess. I'm simply finding it difficult to identify any factors to be sanguine about.

Our Latest National Housing Market Report is out. You can download the PDF here.

From the press release:

Mountain View, CA September 5, 2008 -- The Altos 10-City Composite Price Index showed a decline in asking prices of 1.5% in August and 2.3% for the past three months. Prices of properties listed for-sale fell in 20 of 25 major markets according to the Real-Time Real Estate Report,published by Altos Research, the premier source for real-time real estate research, and market analysis consultancy Real IQ.

Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in Las Vegas -- down 4.8% during August -- and 8.6% over the most recent three-month period for an annualized rate of nearly 35%. Listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Denver -- up 1.9% in August -- followed by San Diego where prices were up 1.4%.

"Many markets that had posted multi-month sequential price increases during the Summer months displayed fresh weakness in August," said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ. "This could portend a general resumption of the downward trend in prices as most markets typically experience seasonal weakness in the Fall and Winter months."

Inventory levels declined in 21 of 25 markets. Inventory fell by the largest amounts in Seattle and Dallas with inventory contracting 6.0% and 4.8% respectively. Many markets showed inventory declines of more than two percent for the past month including: San Francisco, San Jose, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Phoenix, Charlotte and Houston.

"While seasonal weakness is typical in the Fall and Winter months, continued widespread inventory reductions like we saw in August could temper near-term price declines," said Michael Simonsen, CEO and co-founder of Altos Research.

Sixteen of 26 markets had an average days-on-market of 100 or more. Days-on-market declined in just three of 26 markets. By far, the market with the slowest rate of inventory turnover was again Miami at an average of 160 days-on-market. Both San Diego and San Francisco experienced the fastest rate of inventory turnover at an average of 84 days-on-market, followed closely by Austin at 86 days.

Data in the Real-Time Housing Market Report is based on analysis of over one million properties currently listed for-sale in 26 metropolitan markets across the country. The report is the most timely source of housing market data on current market activity.

The report examines housing pricing, inventory levels and market conditions in 31 major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington, DC. The Real-Time Real Estate Report is released every month.

We love it when our clients get good blog fodder from our data. We need to be more diligent about showing the link love to 'em. Surfing around with a little insomnia tonight I found a whole set from just the last day or two. Check out these wonderful realtors with great, data-rich blogs:

Wilkas Group in San Mateo

Irina Natchaev dives into the San Gabriel market

Ryan Hartman in Philadelphia (Welcome aboard Ryan!)

Marian Bennett in Half Moon Bay

Here's a special hint: if you're a home buyer or seller looking for data in any of these markets, you can actually subscribe to the detailed local reports from us. But why would you? These marvelous pros will give you the reports for free! How cool is that?!

Our latest National Housing Market Report is out. This one examines data through end of July 2008. You can download the PDF here.

Here's the press release:

Real Estate Report: National Housing Prices Down by 0.8% in July

Report measures current real estate data in major markets around the country. Data shows Las Vegas continuing to lead as the weakest US housing market with real estate prices down another 4% in July. Current real estate data shows some summertime price stability in Midwestern markets Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA August 5, 2008 - The Altos 10-City Composite Price Index showed a decline in asking prices of 0.8% in July and 1.3% for the past three months. Prices of properties listed for sale fell in 13 of 26 major markets according to the Real-Time Real Estate Report, published by Altos Research, the premier source for real-time real estate data, and market analysis consultancy Real IQ.

Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in Las Vegas - down 4.0% during July - and 7.5% over the most recent three-month period for an annualized rate of 30%. Listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Detroit - up 4.8% in July - followed by Cleveland where prices were up 2.7%. Prices were also up slightly in the Midwestern markets of Indianapolis and Minneapolis.

"While prices continue to fall in coastal and Western markets, prices appear to have stabilized in Midwestern markets that were previously declining," said Michael Simonsen, CEO and co-founder of Altos Research. "The real test will come in the fall when markets typically experience a seasonal slowdown which will be exacerbated by high job losses and foreclosures."

Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in Las Vegas - down 4.0% during July - and 7.5% over the most recent three-month period for an annualized rate of 30%. Listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Detroit - up 4.8% in July - followed by Cleveland where prices were up 2.7%. Prices were also up slightly in the Midwestern markets of Indianapolis and Minneapolis.

Listed property inventories declined with the 10-City Composite markets showing a decrease of 2.0% in July. Inventory rose in just 6 of 26 markets with the biggest decreases occurring in Detroit and Cleveland.

"Broadly declining inventory is a positive sign in the near-term, particularly for the Midwestern markets which all showed inventory declines," said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ.

For the Altos 10-City Composite, the average days on market was 111, a slight increase from 109 in June. Thirteen of 26 markets had an average days-on-market of 100 or more. By far, the market with the slowest rate of inventory turnover was Miami at an average of 156 days-on-market, nearly a full month more than the next slowest market - Tampa. Austin led all markets with the fastest rate of inventory turnover at an average of 78 days-on-market.

Data in the Real-Time Housing Market Report is based on analysis of over one million properties currently listed for sale in 31 metropolitan markets across the country. The report is the most timely source of housing market data on current market activity.

The report examines housing pricing, inventory levels and market conditions in 31 major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington, DC. The Real-Time Real Estate Report is released every month.