Foreclosure and Short Sale Discounts Weigh Down Metro Area Median Prices - National Association of REALTORS
First-time home buyers responding to improved affordability conditions, and lower prices of foreclosures and short sales, impacted metropolitan area median home prices in the first quarter, while existing-home sales remained sluggish in many parts of the country, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®.
With first-time buyers accounting for half of all purchases during the first quarter, 134 out of 152 metropolitan statistical areas1 reported lower median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the first quarter of 2008, while 18 metros had price gains.
Many buyers sought deeply discounted distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – which accounted for nearly half of transactions in the first quarter and weighed down median home prices in most markets.
The national median existing single-family price was $169,000, which is 13.8 percent below the first quarter of 2008 when conditions were closer to normal. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less, but distressed homes typically are selling for 20 percent less than traditional homes and are downwardly skewing median prices.
Update 11:11 AM
Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter (Update1) - Bloomberg
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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