Slim pickings for buyers amid near-record low homes for sale

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Americans eager to buy a home this spring, beware: It’s slim pickings out there. The number of U.S. homes on the market is at near-historic lows, which could dim would-be buyers’ prospects for finding a house or condo and fuel competition for the most affordable properties, economists say. Some 980,000 homes were on the market nationally at the end of February, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s up 15.3% from an all-time low set last February. While homebuyers will have more properties to choose from than last spring, the low supply and sharply higher mortgage rates set the stage for a higher overall price tag for homeownership.