Philadelphia region sees "unprecedented" drop in housing inventory

Housing inventory continues to plummet in the Philadelphia region.

Driving the news: The region's inventory fell to 13,270 listings last month, a nearly 41% drop compared to February 2020, according to a recent Zillow report.

Meanwhile, the amount of months of home supply in the region sits at a decade low.

• There's currently less than one month's supply (0.9), down from more than seven months in 2013, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

Yes, but: Philadelphia stands alone in the region with more than a month's supply of housing inventory (1.7).

Zoom in: Listings now spend a median of 13 days on the market before going under contract, according to Zillow data from last month. That's down from 36 days in 2020.

• Typical home prices in the region have climbed to more than $318,000, a rise of nearly 27% since February 2020, according to Zillow, which uses its own home value index.

Of note: Renters aren't seeing any relief either.

• Average rents ($1,742) were 11.7% higher in February compared to the same period last year, according to Zillow.

The big picture: Listings are dramatically down over the past decade, according to data from Bright MLS, a multiple listing service.

• In February, the agency tallied 6,737 listings within 11 counties in the Philadelphia region, down from 40,163 in February 2012.
• Metro-area home listings included in the Bright MLS report were down 34% in February, compared to the same time in 2021.

What they're saying: Drexel University economist Kevin Gillen called the region's extremely low levels of housing inventory "unexpected, unprecedented and unsustainable."