Give the man a cigar.
Better than a year ago.
High inventory is good news, not bad news. For there to be real estate inspections, you need real estate transactions, which means you need buyers and sellers. Inventory = sellers.
All we need are buyers. Lenders and investors are holding back funds to lend due to tight credit policies and government restrictions. The pendulum has swung too much the other way.
There is also a lack of trust. Appraisers are reporting home defects to lenders, who should be trusting experienced, qualified home inspectors. IMO, home inspections should be mandatory in any home sale transaction by trained, qualified, inspectors. CMI’s should be getting business off the charts, but very little is coming our way.
Why should a buyer buy now when it will be cheaper in 6 months?
Same as it ever was… Job Transfer, Family Downsizing, Divorce, Retirement, Location, Location, Location! 
Yeah, the inventory is extremely high locally (and elsewhere) but there are not that many buyers. What I am hearing is there are a few buyers but many can not get the loan. Too many homes on the market are still overpriced. Most of the homes we are doing are bank owned, and the note is more than what the appraisers are writing. Bank won’t lower the prices, the banks and mortgage companies won’t lend on homes that aren’t worth what the banks want. I have recently done homes that came down on price over $100K, $150K. Those were not bank owned. Sellers had to take a long golden shaft to sell the home. We are not at the bottom yet, but you might be able to feel it with your toe. Notice the banks are on both sides of the equation. They created the mess along with Congress.
Most of the homes we have inspected that were “affordable” for the average buyer were piles of debris that should be pushed over. I have had more “deal buster” inspections this year than ever before. People live in a place for years, never upgrade, clean or fix anything than when they got upside down on it they walked, leaving an eyesore for their neighbors to look at. Lots of empty crap holes around the market. Some good deals too if you have a job and or money to spend on a home. Time to upgrade if you are flush with cash.
True but that is a much more limited part of the market than the momo days.