Prices Fall, But Sales Rise [Housing Tracker]
House Price/Sales Data
Home Sales Hold Fast In Payette County. Idaho: “Median home prices in Payette County are at a manageable level for buyers. So far a total of 105 homes have been sold in Payette County during 2008 with the average, or median price, being $142,000 with prices in the area ranging between $120,000 and $160,000. Compare that to Ada County and Canyon County where the median home price is almost $250,000.”
Maui Home Sales And Prices Fall. Hawaii: “Realtors Association of Maui: Sales of single-family homes fell to 65 in September, nine less than the same month a year ago… even though the median price dropped to $535,000 last month, $51,000 less than in September 2007. Maui’s slumping home prices follow similar sales on Oahu, where prices fell to the lowest point in more than 3 years, as well as on the Big Island and Kauai, where fewer homes sold despite a 20% drop in prices… Condo sales dropped 42.8% to 48 last month, the lowest level in five years, despite a median price decline to $388,500.”
Bend Home Sales Up In September. Oregon: “Bratton Appraisal Group: Bend’s housing market showed a positive sign in September when the number of single-family home sales rose to the highest level in more than a year… Seventy-six of the 120 homes sold last month in Bend, or 63%, were priced below $300,000. Median sales price per square foot… dropped from $157 in August to $139 in September in Bend, the city’s lowest level since April 2005. The city’s median sales price, meanwhile, dropped slightly to $276,000 in September, down from $283,000 in August. A year ago, the median price was $332,000 in Bend in September 2007.”
Economic Woes Hit Home. “Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors: Realtors sold 2,783 single-family homes in September, compared with 2,545 sales in August and 990 in the same month a year ago. Sales of condos and townhomes increased 81.2% from a year ago to 386 in September. The inventory of homes on the Multiple Listing Service remained steady at 22,784 in September, compared with 22,710 in August. It’s down 5.9% from 24,218 in September 2007. The median single-home price slipped 7.1% to $195,000 in September, down 31.8% [y/o/y]…. Condos and townhomes were down 2.9 percent to $119,450.”
Home Sales Up 38%, Values Mixed. Florida: “The Orlando Regional Realtor Association reported a 38% increase in existing home sales in September, but a continued decline in home values. Members of the Realtor Association were involved in 1,335 home resales last month, compared to 970 during the same period last year. September’s median home sales price of $210,000 was 10.6% below September 2007’s $235,000, but 5% up from August 2008’s $200,000… Other Orlando market positives include month-over-month increases in the number of new contracts and in the number of pending sales, considered by housing economists to be a reliable predictor of future sales activity.”
Region’s Home Sales Rose In September. “Pikes Peak Association of Realtors: Single-family home sales in Colorado Springs in September rose 5.6% when compared with September 2007. The first year-over-year gain in monthly home sales since May 2006… September sales of existing homes… jumped 9.6% when compared with September 2007… For the first nine months of the year, however, combined sales of new and existing homes declined 15.9% when compared with the same period last year. The supply of homes for sale in September, meanwhile, dropped 10.8% compared with a year ago… The median price of homes sold in September fell to $200,000, a 4.8% drop when compared with September 2007.”
Area Housing Market Down In Third Quarter. “Central Penn Multi-List and the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors: The median home-sale price in Central Pennsylvania was down 3% during Q3’08. The median price of residential homes was at $168,000… compared to $173,000 in Q3’07… The number of residential housing units sold in Q3 also dropped 12%— from 2,411 units sold last year to 2,127 this year. Q3’08 listings stayed on the market an average of 70 days, up from an average of 57 days in 2007… While the median sale price declined, the average sales price went up, increasing to $194,074 — up from $182,028 for Q1’08.”
Pending Home Sales Surge. “National Association of Realtors: Pending home sales activity surged in August… The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, jumped 7.4% from July to August, and stood 8.8% higher this August compared to August 2007. The index is, in fact, at the highest level since June 2007. Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not closed. Generally there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed.”
Fort Myers-Area Home Sales Up. “Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Florida single-family homes sales in September climbed 4% to 756 from August’s 729. That’s about three times the number of sales for the same period last year of 275 homes… September’s median sales price slipped another 6% from August to $126,250. That’s 42% lower than a year ago at $218,000.”
NAR: Home Prices To Drop 8.3% In ‘08. “NAR: Sales of U.S. resale homes are projected to fall 10.9% this year compared to 2007, with the median price dropping 8.3%… Back in January, the group predicted that sales of resale homes would rise slightly this year and that prices would hold steady compared to 2007. The sales projection has actually been revised upward since the group’s previous forecast, released last month, which anticipated an 11.4% year-over-year drop in sales. NAR’s previous forecast called for the median price of resale homes to fall 7% this year, which is less than the drop anticipated in the [current] forecast.”
Home Asking Prices Fall: September Report. “Real estate research company Altos Research LLC: Asking prices for homes across the country fell 1.4% in September, bringing the total drop in the last three-month cycle to 2.9%… September findings of Altos’ 10-city composite listing price index… are based on market conditions in 26 major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas including - among many others - Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. The Real-Time Housing Market Report, a joint publication between Altos and market analysis firm Real IQ, showed asking prices fell in 21 of these 26 metropolitan markets.”
Credits: Seeking Alpha