National housing inventory remains at a traditional low, leading to healthy demand and pushing prices higher. And there is good reason for it: fewer foreclosures on the market prevent a bottoming out.

The number of homes listed as for sale on Zillow dropped 16.6% year-over-year in February, according to the real estate marketplace website. It’s a trend noticed by foreclosure data company RealtyTrac which notes big drops in available inventory based on plummeting foreclosure numbers in markets like California, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

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