Home inventory dropped to the lowest level on record last month as buyers competed over an already sparse range of choices, according to data released Thursday by Zillow.

Buyers continued to compete over a dwindling number of home listings deep into the holiday season, driving prices higher and bringing the number of homes on the market at any one time to its lowest level on record.

Active home inventory dropped below 1 million in December, nearly 41 percent lower than inventory levels two years earlier, according to the latest market report from Zillow.

“Home shoppers picked the shelves clean this December, leaving fewer active listings than ever before in the U.S. housing market,” Zillow senior economist Jeff Tucker said in the report.

Price growth picked up steam over the holidays as well, with home values jumping by 1.4 percent from November to December. That’s higher than the previous monthly increase of 1.2 percent.

Home values were 19.6 percent higher in December than the same time the previous year — the highest year-over-year increase in Zillow’s dataset. The typical home value in the U.S. now sits at $320,662, according to the report.