For Dec., in the Savannah area, the inventory of single family homes in middle class areas like the Southside and West Chatham stands at about 10 months. Six-months is generally considered “normal,” although healthy balanced markets typically have closer to 4 months. More expensive areas have closer to 20 months of inventory. Sales are always low in January, but last year we saw new listings in January balloon (perhaps in anticipation of the tax credit). It will be key to watch the number of new listings in January and February.

More data was released today about falling prices nationally, on the verge of retracing the gains made a year ago with the tax credits in place: CoreLogic: House Prices declined 1.6% in November (http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/01/corelogic-house-prices-declined-16-in.html)