Have we hit the bottom? Home inventory offers glimmer of hope - IdahoStatesman.com

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For the first time in 28 months, the number of Treasure Valley homes for sale offered a glimmer of hope for a stalled market.

Ada County homeowners were selling 5,055 homes at the end of July, compared with 5,198 a year ago, according to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service.

The veteran Realtor called the numbers good news for the market. It was a baby step in showing that weve been at the bottom of the market for a month, or two, Tracy said.

Canyon County was not so lucky. There were 2,765 homes on the Canyon County market last month, about 5 percent more than in July 2007.

The almost 8,000 homes awaiting buyers in the Valley is one of the reasons the local single-family market has been in a slump. The glut has contributed to falling home values in virtually every segment of the market, according to industry experts.

But while some were quick to call the decline in inventory a signal that the market may be on the verge of turning around, others said it was grossly inaccurate to declare Julys numbers as an indication that the market is nearing the bottom.

Heinrich Wiebe of Wiebe Modern Realty said MLS monthly numbers historically do not include condominiums, townhomes, manufactured housing or trailer homes. When those listings are added in, the total number of homes on the market last month jumped to 5,697, he said, or almost 10 percent more than the July 2007 MLS inventory. Wiebe didnt have the comparable number for last year.