US Housing Market - The number of homes listed for sale declined in many U.S. cities in November, but more houses are likely to hit the market early in 2010. The supply of homes available for sale in 35 major metropolitan areas at the end of November was down 2.4% compared with a month earlier, according to RealTrac.

Inventories typically decrease modestly in November compared with the previous month, and especially during our holiday seasonality period between Thanksgiving and New Years. Over the past 25 years, the average change has been a decline of 1.8%.

The November inventory in the 35 metro areas was down 28% compared with the year-earlier period for all single-family homes, condominiums and town houses listed on local multiple-listing services.

One stat that's not figured into all of this are the number of homes that banks are preparing to put on the market, without that it's impossible to pin down what effect that will have on inventory levels in the new year. As of the end of October, banks and mortgage investors had 639,000 foreclosed homes for sale across the country. However, it should be noted that most of these bank-owned homes are mostly concentrated in Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada.

I think that with the holiday season between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, many homeowners have been awaiting for signs of a stronger market before trying to sell. They are likely to list their homes early in the new year to attract buyers seeking to qualify for a federal tax credit on purchases of homes made before the end of April 2010. I also believe a lot of home owners will want to market their homes with the world's attention focused on this area during the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics in February 2010. There is going to be a lot more inventory coming on the market by February or March 2010.