Hot Development: High-End Housing Shortage

Want proof the housing market recovery is for real? We now have a report of a housing shortage–at the top of the market.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that mansions are in short supply in the nation’s richest ZIP codes. According to the story by CNBC reporter Robert Frank, inventory of homes for sale in the country’s 90 wealthiest ZIP codes is down 15 percent from year-ago levels, a slightly larger drop than the market as a whole.

And at the top of the top, the situation’s even worse. Only four homes valued at $1 million or more are on the market in one Carmel, Calif., ZIP code as of the end of May – a 76 percent drop from last May. On this coast, the available inventory in Old Greenwich, Conn., fell 50 percent over the last year; only 10 million-plus homes are on the market now.

According to the report, buyers are snapping up homes in these areas almost as soon as they hit the market.

The news from ZIP code 19035 doesn’t appear to be as alarming: According to Altos Research, there are currently 55 homes on the market in Gladwyne as of mid-June, with a median price of $1,331,962.