Shadow Inventory of Homes Higher in 2010

The housing market’s “shadow inventory”—unlisted bank-owned homes and potential foreclosures—rose compared to 2009, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. A report by CoreLogic, a real estate research firm, estimated that there were 2.1 million units in the shadow inventory in August, or about an eight-month supply. The number increased by 10 percent over August 2009.

The shadow inventory is estimated to be highest in the Miami, Chicago and Atlanta metropolitan areas, and Nassau and Suffolk counties in Long Island, N.Y. CoreLogic said that these areas have approximately a 30-month supply, citing the fact that foreclosures in Florida, New York and Illinois must go through the courts.

Some analysts have criticized the CoreLogic estimates as being too low. A report by Barclays Capital showed that bank-owned housing inventory at the end of September was 600,000 units, and that 3.76 million homes are either in foreclosure or 90 days delinquent. The report indicated that while the number of homes in foreclosure was lower than a peak in February of this year, it was higher than in 2009.