Here is why that number is important. The questions that sellers used to ask is how much will my house sell for and how long will it take. I believe that I touched on this several months ago when I said sellers will soon start asking Can I sell my house at anything close to market value? The answer is increasingly, maybe not or you have a less than 50/50 chance. With such a high failure rate, people looking to move up with plenty of equity to do so will stay put. Most homes on the market will be motivated sellers which will drive down prices but inventory could moderate.
