According to a recent report from CoreLogic, Houston currently holds a 7.3 month-supply of distressed properties, which is the ratio of ‘serious delinquent homes’ that have been removed from the MLS (referred to as ‘shadow’ or ‘pending’ inventory), by the number of sales in the market. As a whole, the state of Texas holds a 5.5 month-supply of distressed homes.

Other cities across the country reported comparably less-favorable figures. Coming in at the top of the list are Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, with 33.5; Nassau-Suffolk, with 30.4; and Chicago-Joliet-Naperville with 30.2 month-supplies of distressed homes. CoreLogic says the total national inventory of unsold homes as of August 2010 was at 4.2 million units, the same number as in August of 2009. The amount of unsold homes including shadow inventory was 6.3 million units in August, up from 6.1 million a year ago.

“The weak demand for housing is significantly increasing the risk of further price declines in the housing market,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This is being exacerbated by a significant and growing shadow inventory that is likely to persist for some time due to the highly extended time-to-liquidation that servicers are currently experiencing.”

Markets with the lowest distressed supply are all in Texas, which CoreLogic says, “largely bypassed the housing boom and subsequent bust.” The Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin-area markets report distressed inventories of 6.7, 6.3, 4.7 and 4.2 month-supplies.