A number like that can be accurate. The more useful skill is knowing what a big percentage does and doesn't tell you. The Inland Empire has landed near the top of California for inventory growth in some stretches, so the headline can check out. The trap is the base. A large percentage increase off a very low starting point can still leave a market with historically thin inventory. We've seen a county's active listings jump by triple digits percentage-wise while the raw count went from under a thousand to a few thousand, which sounds dramatic but is still tight by any normal standard. Percentages amplify small numbers, so always ask for the actual count before reacting. What matters more than any single headline: - The trend. Is inventory climbing for several months in a row, or was it a one-time bump that's already leveling off? - Absorption. How fast is the standing inventory selling? Rising listings paired with steady demand behaves very differently from rising listings that just sit. - The full picture. It's common to see inventory up sharply while median prices are still up year over year and only a modest share of listings carry a price cut. That combination says the market is loosening, and loosening is a long way from collapsing. Don't trade on one data point. Track your specific county over several months and judge direction from the trend rather than a single eye-catching percentage.