New listings down

-J.J.'s opinion- Fewer homes on the market with shorter days on the market is a start to correcting our Dallas area housing market -end opinion-

The Dallas area has had one of the largest drops in home listings in the country in recent months, according to a new report.

Altos Research and Real IQ said Wednesday that during the last three months, the number of homes for sale in the Dallas area declined more than 9 percent.

Nationwide, home sales listings fell more than 4 percent on average in the research firm's 21-city comparison.

"While inventories have continued to slowly decline, they remain at historically high levels," Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ, said in the report. "The result is that prices remain under pressure in most markets.

"Until we see large and sustained declines in inventory, we're not going to see a market bottom."

That's less the case in Dallas, where home listings dropped 9.2 percent in the last three months, according to the report. Only Seattle, with 9.3 percent, has seen a bigger decline in the number of homes for sale.

Local statistics show the drop in pre-owned homes for sale may be even steeper. MLS listings fell 15 percent from a year earlier, according to September numbers.

And the number of vacant new homes on the market was down more than 25 percent from the peak.

But hard-hit housing markets are still seeing increases in the number of homes for sale. Listings rose last month in Phoenix, Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C., and Boston, Altos Research reports.

And in 19 of the 26 markets the research firm tracks, it now takes more than 100 days on average to sell a home. The worst case is in Miami, where it takes six months on average to find a buyer.

The Dallas area has one of the shortest times in the country at 96 days, according to Altos.

Average home listing prices here were flat, according to the report, while they were down about 3 percent nationally in the last three months.

HOME LISTING INVENTORY

Percent change during previous three months.

BIGGEST DECLINES
Seattle: -9.3%
Dallas: -9.2%
Austin: -7.7%
Detroit: -7.3%
San Francisco: -7.3%
SOURCE: Altos Research and