On the eve of the spring buying season, the number of homes listed for sale on realtor.com was down 11 percent in February compared to the same time a year ago.

Only 30 out of 200 markets tracked in the realtor.com National Housing Trend Report saw listing inventories increase from a year ago.

Metros experiencing double-digit percentage drops in for-sale listings included Dallas (-31.4 percent), Denver (-26.8 percent), Omaha (-26.6 percent), Houston (-24.5 percent), Washington, D.C. (-23.6 percent), San Francisco (-19.7 percent), Phoenix (-18.9 percent), Seattle (-13.4 percent), San Diego (-13.2 percent), St. Louis (-12 percent), Boston (-11.7 percent), and Salt Lake City (-11.4 percent).

Top 10 markets with the greatest annual decrease in realtor.com inventory, February 2015

Market Change from year ago
Number of listings
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. -36.7% 1,694
Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla. -36.0% 1,960
Manchester-Nashua, N.H. -34.3% 1,795
Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn. -32.3% 9,152
Sherman-Denison, Texas -31.7% 596
Springfield, Ill. -31.6% 818
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas -31.4 15,873
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y. -30.3% 3,134
Port St. Lucie, Fla. -29.7% 4,545
Chico, Calif. -28.7% 548

Source: realtor.com

Realtor.com counted 1.59 million homes on the market across the nation last month, up 1.2 percent from January, with median list price up 8.6 percent from a year ago to $214,000. Median days on market was down 6.9 percent from a year ago, to 102.

Top 10 markets with greatest annual increase in realtor.com inventory, February 2015

Market Change from year ago Number of listings
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill. 22.4% 1,990
Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, Calif. 19.8% 8,857
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. 11.9% 13,662
Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J. 10.7% 4,294
East Stroudsburg, Pa. 8.9% 2,442
Prescott, Ariz. 8.3% 2,258
York-Hanover, Pa. 7.6% 2,593
Urban Honolulu, Hawaii 7.2% 3,265
Panama City, Fla. 7.0% 3,161
Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio 7.0% 1,925

Source: realtor.com

According to the latest numbers from CoreLogic, 5.4 million homes were “underwater” at the end of December, and another 10 million homeowners were classified as “under-equitied,” meaning they had less than 20 percent equity in their homes.

“Borrowers who are ‘under-equitied’ may have a more difficult time refinancing their existing homes or obtaining new financing to sell and buy another home due to underwriting constraints,” CoreLogic warned.

Top 10 realtor.com markets by listing count, February 2015

Market Change from year ago
Number of listings
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. -0.1% 74,989
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla. -3.1% 48,734
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. 0.0% 41,660
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. 0.0% 38,728
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. 0.0% 29,509
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. -18.9% 21,309
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. 0.0% 20,142
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. -11.1% 19,387
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif. 0.0% 19,377
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich. 5.7% 18,779

Source: realtor.com

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