Unsold Home Inventory Still Is Lowest in Decade

Unsold tract housing inventory in six Southland counties at the end of August was unchanged from six months ago, with 6,571 units, though that figure was down 26% from a year ago and still remains the lowest in the last decade, according to a survey released by the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California.

Units under construction accounted for 81% of the inventory, and detached units represented 69% of these.

Inventory of completed units dropped by 198 units to 1,266, while units under construction rose by 172 units, to 5,405. Detached units under construction rose 8%, while attached units under construction fell 7%.

Unsold inventories increased in Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties but fell in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Of the total unsold, Riverside County had 32%; San Diego County, 23%; Orange County, 19%; Los Angeles, 11%; San Bernardino, 9%, and Ventura, 7%.

Of the total of unsold inventory, about 70% represented detached housing except in Orange County, where the figure was 56%, and in San Bernardino County, where it was more than 88%.

The survey was conducted from April through August at all active housing projects in the six counties, except in Central and West Los Angeles and the West San Gabriel Valley, by Market Profiles, a Costa Mesa research firm.