Home Prices Gain in 91 U.S. Cities in First Quarter
May 11, 2010, 12:00 PM EDT

By Kathleen M. Howley

May 11 (Bloomberg) — Home prices rose in 91 U.S. cities in the first quarter as states hard hit by foreclosures began to recover and a tax credit cut the number of properties for sale.

The median price of a single-family home sold in Saginaw, Michigan, doubled to $60,800, the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said in a report today. Prices in Akron, Ohio, climbed 90 percent to $95,300 and Grand Rapids, Michigan, recorded a 26 percent increase to $90,700. Nationally, the median declined 0.7 percent.

Cities that led the nation in foreclosures a year earlier had the biggest price increases as a tax credit of as much as $8,000 boosted demand and drove the supply of unsold homes to a four-year low in January, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors’ group. Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight, said an improving job market should sustain the fledgling rebound in real estate.

“In the second half of the year, employment growth and an improving economic situation should keep the housing recovery on track,” Bethune said in a telephone interview from his Lexington, Massachusetts, office.

Today’s report showed the recovery accelerating from the fourth quarter when 67 metropolitan areas reported price gains.

Peak to Trough

The U.S. median home price tumbled 29 percent over three and a half years as defaults among subprime borrowers flooded the housing market with cheaply priced foreclosures and Wall Street piled up $1.78 trillion in losses and asset writedowns.

The median prices of an existing U.S. home peaked at $230,300 in July of 2006 and hit a low of $164,600 in February, according to NAR data. The drop was 13 percent in 2009, outpacing 2008’s 9.5 percent decline.

This year, prices may increase 2.5 percent as the economy improves, according to the Realtors’ forecast.

The median price of a single-family home in the New York metropolitan area rose 1.8 percent to $380,400 in the three months ended March 31. The areas surrounding New Haven and Milford, Connecticut, gained 5.3 percent to $227,900.

The Edison, New Jersey, region had a 1.5 percent gain in the median price; and Hartford, Connecticut, posted a 1.6 percent increase to $225,900. Prices in the Boston metropolitan area increased 11 percent to $321,800.

Transactions Fall

In a separate report, NAR said U.S. sales dropped 14 percent in the first quarter from the prior period, mostly because buyers rushed to purchase homes in the fourth quarter when the tax credit for purchases was originally set to expire.

Congress ultimately extended and expanded the credit for purchase contracts signed by April 30.

South Dakota led the nationwide sales decline with transactions falling 33 percent in the first quarter. Sales in Pennsylvania and Idaho dropped 28 percent. Connecticut transactions decreased almost 15 percent and New York sales were down 9.4 percent, NAR said.

Nationally, home sales probably will rise 4.3 percent to 5.38 million this year and gain 5.1 percent to 5.66 million in 2011, according to a forecast posted on NAR’s website. In 2009, sales climbed for the first time in four years to 5.16 million.

To talk about the market call me today at (704)840-4137.

courtsey of Bloomberg.net

“Inventory” is simply real estate lingo for “the number of homes for sale.” This stat shows you how much supply is available in the market you are researching. Inventory levels can ebb and flow frequently due to seasonal effects. There’s usually more inventory on the market in the spring-time as the natural rate of real estate activity picks up during this time of year. Alternately, there’s generally less inventory in the Fall or Winter as real estate activity slows.

This can mean mixed things if you’re a buyer or seller in the market, or a real estate agent working with your clients. At times when there is higher inventory, it means there’s more selection for buyers. But there’s also more buyers in the market in the spring time which means more competition for the homes on the market. It’s important to couple your analysis of inventory levels with other market measures such as:

* Median Price
* Days-on-Market
* Price per Square Foot
* Market Action Index
* And a bunch of others

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

Altos Research updates their data every week and provides this data.

Simply put, “Days-on-Market” tells you how long the active properties currently for sale, in aggregate, have been on the market (a.k.a. “time on market”). Said otherwise- “of the active listings currently available for sale – how long have they been for sale?”

Compare this to “Time to sale” which is used to describe only those selected properties that sold and is a statistically different measurement. “Time to sale” only looks at those properties that sold vs “time on market” which looks at all active listings as defined above.

Most importantly, while the values of the Altos Research “days on market” and the “time to sale” may not match, you’ll find that these numbers are closely correlated. Both values rise is weaker markets and fall in stronger markets.

The Days-on-Market number that you see here and in your Market Reports is a “cumulative” number. So what does that mean? Sometimes listing agents will pull a listing from the active market and re-list the property in the near future – maybe a couple of weeks or months down the road. This is a common action for an agent to take if a property has been on the market for an extended period of time or if the property will have its price reduced. Frequently, this also resets the days-on-market number back to “0 days” in the local MLS search. By re-listing the property, it can appear to be “new” in the local market because new buyers in the market may not have seen the property previously. But, that doesn’t really tell you want the true “days-on-market” value is in that market.

To correct for that, we calculate “Days-on-Market” as a cumulative number, which means if a properties leaves the active market and is relisted again within a 90-day period, we assume that they property was never really “off the market” – more like “it was taking a break.”
Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

research provided by Altos Research

Maybe median price is increasing at the same time that inventory levels are increasing while days-on-market is relatively flat. Using these three market stats individually makes it difficult to determine what is exactly is going on. We developed the MAI to roll together some of these key stats (and a few others) to generate a number, indexed to “30″, to determine if the local market is trending towards a “buyer’s market” or “seller’s market.”

From our reports:

“Residential house prices are a function of supply and demand, and market conditions can be characterized by analyzing those factors.

“The Market Action Index (MAI) illustrates the balance between supply and demand using a statistical function of the current rate of sale versus current inventory. An MAI value greater than 30 typically indicates a “Seller’s Market” (a.k.a. “Hot Market”) because demand is high enough to quickly absorb available supply. A hot market will typically cause prices to rise. MAI values below 30 indicate a “Buyer’s Market” (a.k.a. “Cold Market”) where the inventory of already-listed homes is sufficient to last several months at the current rate of sales. A cold market will typically cause prices to fall.” research provided by Altos Research

Keep in mind that an MAI value close to “30″ probably means that the local market is balanced or neutral. So if the MAI for your local market is somewhere between 27-33, then it’s likely to be either a buyer’s market or seller’s market based on the individual street or home area that a particular property is in.

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

research provided by Altos Research

Incoming search terms for the article:

• fort mill home market
• fort mill sc housing trends

In reporting a number of key real estate market statistics, there two statistical measures – MEDIAN and AVERAGE – that can be confusing to understand sometimes. Let’s take a minute to explain the difference.

AVERAGE is the term that is used more frequently in newspapers and on TV, but MEDIAN PRICE are usually a more accurate way to look at home prices in a city or neighborhood.

For example, let’s say that there are 10 homes for sale in a city. The prices of the homes are:

$250,000
$275,000
$285,000
$300,000
$300,000
$315,000
$500,000
$550,000
$600,000
$1,200,000

To calculate the AVERAGE PRICE, we would add up the prices of these 10 homes and divide by 10:

($250,000 + $275,000 + $285,000 + $300,000 + $315,000 + $300,000 + $500,000 + $550,000 + $600,000 + $1,200,000) / 10 = $457,000

We’ve calculated that the AVERAGE PRICE in this city is $457,000.

So how is that different from the MEDIAN PRICE?

The MEDIAN PRICE is “the number in the middle.” To find the MEDIAN PRICE, you simply to put the values in order from lowest to highest, and then find the number that is exactly in the middle. Using our same 10 properties for sale:

$250,000
$275,000
$285,000
$300,000
$300,000
$315,000
$500,000
$550,000
$600,000
$1,200,000

We can divide the 10 properties into two equal groups:

$250,000
$275,000
$285,000
$300,000
$300,000

$315,000
$500,000
$550,000
$600,000
$1,200,000

So the MEDIAN PRICE is somewhere between $300,000 and $315,000.

To calculate the MEDIAN PRICE, you just take the two values in the middle and divide by 2:

MEDIAN PRICE = ($300,000 + $315,000) / 2 = $307,000

So here we’ve calculated that the MEDIAN HOME PRICE in this city is $307,000. As you can see, this is very different from the Average Home Price of $457,000.

This is an important distinction to make because the AVERAGE PRICE in this city is greatly influenced by the one expensive home at the top of the market selling for $1,200,000. But, the MEDIAN PRICE is just an even count of how many homes are above or below the midpoint – a more accurate representation of prices in a neighborhood.

You can use the same analysis for other key statistics such as DAYS ON MARKET. Suppose that you have a couple of properties that have been on the market for an extended time. If you use AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET, the number will be much higher than if you were to calculate the MEDIAN DAYS ON MARKET.

Here’s a specific example:

What if you’re working with a buyer that can afford up to $325,000 for a home? If you use the AVERAGE PRICE of $457,000 for the neighborhood, it appears that that area might be too expensive for the buyer. But, if you use the MEDIAN PRICE of $307,000, then this neighborhood will be right in the buyer’s zone.

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

research provided by Altos Research

“Inventory” is simply real estate lingo for “the number of homes for sale.” This stat shows you how much supply is available in the market you are researching. Inventory levels can ebb and flow frequently due to seasonal effects. There’s usually more inventory on the market in the spring-time as the natural rate of real estate activity picks up during this time of year. Alternately, there’s generally less inventory in the Fall or Winter as real estate activity slows.

This can mean mixed things if you’re a buyer or seller in the market, or a real estate agent working with your clients. At times when there is higher inventory, it means there’s more selection for buyers. But there’s also more buyers in the market in the spring time which means more competition for the homes on the market. It’s important to couple your analysis of inventory levels with other market measures such as:

* Median Price
* Days-on-Market
* Price per Square Foot
* Market Action Index
* And a bunch of others

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

Altos Research updates their data every week and provides this data.

Maybe median price is increasing at the same time that inventory levels are increasing while days-on-market is relatively flat. Using these three market stats individually makes it difficult to determine what is exactly is going on. We developed the MAI to roll together some of these key stats (and a few others) to generate a number, indexed to “30″, to determine if the local market is trending towards a “buyer’s market” or “seller’s market.”

From our reports:

“Residential house prices are a function of supply and demand, and market conditions can be characterized by analyzing those factors.

“The Market Action Index (MAI) illustrates the balance between supply and demand using a statistical function of the current rate of sale versus current inventory. An MAI value greater than 30 typically indicates a “Seller’s Market” (a.k.a. “Hot Market”) because demand is high enough to quickly absorb available supply. A hot market will typically cause prices to rise. MAI values below 30 indicate a “Buyer’s Market” (a.k.a. “Cold Market”) where the inventory of already-listed homes is sufficient to last several months at the current rate of sales. A cold market will typically cause prices to fall.” research provided by Altos Research

Keep in mind that an MAI value close to “30″ probably means that the local market is balanced or neutral. So if the MAI for your local market is somewhere between 27-33, then it’s likely to be either a buyer’s market or seller’s market based on the individual street or home area that a particular property is in.

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

research provided by Altos Research

Incoming search terms for the article:

• how is the housing market in Concord nc

In reporting a number of key real estate market statistics, there two statistical measures – MEDIAN and AVERAGE – that can be confusing to understand sometimes. Let’s take a minute to explain the difference.

AVERAGE is the term that is used more frequently in newspapers and on TV, but MEDIAN PRICE are usually a more accurate way to look at home prices in a city or neighborhood.

For example, let’s say that there are 10 homes for sale in a city. The prices of the homes are:

$250,000
$275,000
$285,000
$300,000
$300,000
$315,000
$500,000
$550,000
$600,000
$1,200,000

To calculate the AVERAGE PRICE, we would add up the prices of these 10 homes and divide by 10:

($250,000 + $275,000 + $285,000 + $300,000 + $315,000 + $300,000 + $500,000 + $550,000 + $600,000 + $1,200,000) / 10 = $457,000

We’ve calculated that the AVERAGE PRICE in this city is $457,000.

So how is that different from the MEDIAN PRICE?

The MEDIAN PRICE is “the number in the middle.” To find the MEDIAN PRICE, you simply to put the values in order from lowest to highest, and then find the number that is exactly in the middle. Using our same 10 properties for sale:

$250,000
$275,000
$285,000
$300,000
$300,000
$315,000
$500,000
$550,000
$600,000
$1,200,000

We can divide the 10 properties into two equal groups:

$250,000
$275,000
$285,000
$300,000
$300,000

$315,000
$500,000
$550,000
$600,000
$1,200,000

So the MEDIAN PRICE is somewhere between $300,000 and $315,000.

To calculate the MEDIAN PRICE, you just take the two values in the middle and divide by 2:

MEDIAN PRICE = ($300,000 + $315,000) / 2 = $307,000

So here we’ve calculated that the MEDIAN HOME PRICE in this city is $307,000. As you can see, this is very different from the Average Home Price of $457,000.

This is an important distinction to make because the AVERAGE PRICE in this city is greatly influenced by the one expensive home at the top of the market selling for $1,200,000. But, the MEDIAN PRICE is just an even count of how many homes are above or below the midpoint – a more accurate representation of prices in a neighborhood.

You can use the same analysis for other key statistics such as DAYS ON MARKET. Suppose that you have a couple of properties that have been on the market for an extended time. If you use AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET, the number will be much higher than if you were to calculate the MEDIAN DAYS ON MARKET.

Here’s a specific example:

What if you’re working with a buyer that can afford up to $325,000 for a home? If you use the AVERAGE PRICE of $457,000 for the neighborhood, it appears that that area might be too expensive for the buyer. But, if you use the MEDIAN PRICE of $307,000, then this neighborhood will be right in the buyer’s zone.

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

research provided by Altos Research

“Inventory” is simply real estate lingo for “the number of homes for sale.” This stat shows you how much supply is available in the market you are researching. Inventory levels can ebb and flow frequently due to seasonal effects. There’s usually more inventory on the market in the spring-time as the natural rate of real estate activity picks up during this time of year. Alternately, there’s generally less inventory in the Fall or Winter as real estate activity slows.

This can mean mixed things if you’re a buyer or seller in the market, or a real estate agent working with your clients. At times when there is higher inventory, it means there’s more selection for buyers. But there’s also more buyers in the market in the spring time which means more competition for the homes on the market. It’s important to couple your analysis of inventory levels with other market measures such as:

* Median Price
* Days-on-Market
* Price per Square Foot
* Market Action Index
* And a bunch of others

Contact me today for more information!  Rod Potter/ Email: rpotter@carolina.rr.com / Phone: (704)840-4137

Altos Research updates their data every week and provides this data.