Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Any of us old timers remember well this oft quoted phrase by Lamont Cranston, The Shadow.
“The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante with psychic powers.” (from Wikipedia)
So what does this have to do with Real Estate? Easy; the question of of how much shadow inventory is out there and what impact it will have on future home sales is probably the story with the most print coverage lately. Just recently I have seen four articles in the blogs I read about shadow inventory and it impact on it continuing to prolong the housing slump and continuing to effect housing prices. By all accounts, and if one accepts the best forecast to a resolution to this, the “Shadow” will be around as the mystic being for at least 12 months.
The Los Angeles Times just did another extensive article by Alejandro Lazo, ‘Shadow inventory’ of 1.8 million homes could prolong housing slump. Here are a few excerpts from the article.
The glut of troubled homes not yet on the market represents a nine-month supply at the current sales pace. That’s in addition to 3.49 million previously owned homes already on the market.
In California, an estimated 16.8 months’ worth of shadow inventory hung over the market, up from 15.3 months in January 2010, according to CoreLogic.Shadow inventory, as defined by CoreLogic, is property that is in foreclosure, has a loan 90 days past due or has been taken back by a lender and is not yet listed for sale.
Here is the CoreLogic article referred to in the LA Times article, Shadow Inventory Declines Slightly. Here is a revealing graph from the article:

Thank you for reading this post. If I can ever be of help in finding you the perfect property here in the Napa Valley, please email me at Curtis@NapaValleyAddress.com.
Your Broker Extraordinaire, selling Napa Valley Real Estate from its heart, Yountville.
Leave a Reply