Shadow Inventory

They built a nuclear power plant near your town, initially with a lot of excitement and fanfare. Unfortunately, they skimped on some of the costs and, over the years, nuclear waste dribbled into the water supply. Now everything is contaminated. Everyone in town has moved away, but they can’t sell their homes. Who’d buy them? Most of the homes glow at night and smell like someone microwaved a nest of rats.

So the houses remain unlisted. Empty, unused...but not officially on the real estate market. At least, not until about 5,000 years from now, when the contamination fades. Or the state pays for a clean-up. (Don't hold your breath.)

Those houses count as shadow inventory. It’s a real estate term referring to homes that could go on the market, but haven’t yet. Typically, these houses have some legal or financial encumbrance that keeps them from getting listed. Maybe they're foreclosures...or maybe they represent homes where the price has dropped and owners are waiting for a rebound.