L.A. has tightest supply of homes for sale in Socal

This tells you a lot about the imbalance in housing these days: L.A. County had only a 2.7-month supply of homes in March, according to the California Association of Realtors. That compares with a 3.3-month supply the previous month and 4.3 months in March 2012. The index determines the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes at the current sales rate. The normal level is six months. At 2.7, L.A. has the tightest supply in Southern California and among the tightest in California. Inventory levels in some portions of the Bay Area is even lower - Contra Costa is at 2.2 and Santa Clara is at 2.1, though SF is at 4.0. Another indicator of the supply-demand imbalance is how long it takes a median-priced home to move off the market. In March, it was 31.5 days in L.A. County, down from 55.6 days a year earlier. If you think that's low, try San Mateo (19.7) or Santa Clara (18.3). This is not the sign of a healthy market. From the CAR release:

"While home sales were essentially flat from February, sales declined moderately from last year, as an extreme shortage of available homes continued to dictate the market," said C.A.R. President Don Faught. "Statewide inventory dropped 36 percent from last March and was below 3 months for the second time in the past few months. Supply conditions are particularly tight in the lower-priced segment of the market, as inventory for homes priced below $300k plunged more than 50 percent from the previous year."