The total number of homes listed for sale on Realtor.com fell by 3.5 percent from September to October, to 2.12 million — the fifth consecutive monthly decline, the company said.

Inventories of homes listed for sale on Realtor.com were down nearly 21 percent in October from a year ago, with 135 of 146 markets tracked posting double-digit annual percentage declines.

Lower inventories, combined with generally stable list prices, can be seen as a positive sign that the overall housing market is holding its own, Realtor.com said in summarizing statistics pulled from its databases.

But housing markets remain fragile, particularly those with high unemployment rates and large numbers of seriously delinquent borrowers, the company said.

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Analyzing a combination of factors, including unemployment rates and annual changes in median list price, median age of inventory, total listings, and Realtor.com search rank, Realtor.com compiled a top 10 list of “Turnaround Towns.”

Realtor.com Top 10 Turnaround Towns

Source: Realtor.com and U.S. Bureau of Labor.

Eleven of the 20 markets that have seen the greatest annual decline in active listings were in Florida, including Miami, Orlando, and Fort Myers, where inventories were down 40 percent or more from a year ago.

Four other top 20 markets for inventory declines were also located in so-called “sand states”: Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. (-48 percent); Oakland, Calif. (-38 percent); Bakersfield, Calif. (-38 percent); and Fresno, Calif. (-37 percent).

Top 20 markets Realtor.com inventory declines

Source: Realtor.com.

At $189,900, the median list price of all homes tracked by Realtor.com in October was essentially unchanged from September and up 2.6 percent from a year ago. Although 46 markets posted annual declines in median list price, 100 markets held their own or posted gains.

The 10 markets posting the biggest annual decline in median list price were Chicago (-12.6 percent); Detroit (-10.9 percent); Las Vegas (-10.4 percent); Atlanta (-8.6 percent); Los Angeles-Long Beach (-7 percent); Ventura, Calif. (-7 percent); Sacramento, Calif. (-6.7 percent); Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Fla. (-6.6 percent); Orange County, Calif. (-6.6 percent); and San Francisco (-6 percent).

Eight of the 10 markets posting the largest annual increase in median list price were located in Florida.

Top 20 markets annual increase median list price

Source: Realtor.com.

The median age of Realtor.com listings in October was 110 days, up 2.8 percent from September but down 1.79 percent from a year ago. Most markets with the longest median inventory age were located in the Southeast, including the South-South Carolina RSA, which topped the list at 185 days.

Top 10 markets inventory age

Source: Realtor.com.

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A view from Royal Mariner Condo Building

from Fort Lauderdale Home Source

> Expected price drop: -11.1%
> Median family income: $58,800 (194th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 11.8%
> Median home price: $196,000 (55th highest)
> Projected to hit lowest level: Q2 2013

Since 2006, home prices in Fort Lauderdale have dropped by nearly 50%. A full 28% of that drop occurred in 2009 alone. As was the case throughout most of Florida, the collapse of the housing bubble decimated the construction-based economy. The unemployment rate of nearly 12% is evident of the construction sector’s disastrous decline. The value of the 686,000 homes in the Fort Lauderdale area is expected to get even worse through at least the second quarter of 2013. Between Q1 2011 and Q1 2012, the median home price is projected to decline an additional 11.1%. Between 2012 and 2013, that number will further decrease by 8.7%.

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