Housing Market Tracker - Home Prices Decline, Still Unaffordable

Quote of the Day

"The fact that $7,400 is the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere is pretty astounding, even in a notoriously expensive housing market like Manhattan’s." - Daniel Baum, COO of The Real Estate Group. (TREGNY January Report)

Real Estate Sales and House Prices

City May Approve Condos Today. "Asheville, NC: The city Planning and Zoning Commission may approve [a new residential building plan. Rod Kagy, a partner in developer Alexander Reagan LLC... said there is still substantial demand for condominiums downtown from people who plan to live in them but that investors who intend to rent out or resell condo units have significantly curtailed their activities because of the housing downturn and difficulties getting bank loans... Real Data: Asheville’s “central” market area... had a very low apartment vacancy rate of 2.6%. That was just more than half the countywide rate of 4.9%." (Asheville Citizen Times, Feb. 6th)

Big Island Home Sales Decline. "Hawaii Information Service: Sales of single-family homes on the Big Island last month were down compared to January 2007, continuing a downward trend from last year. The median price of a Big Island single-family home in January was $324,000, down from $405,000 during Jan. 2007. There were 84 homes sold last month, down from 121 last year. However, the median price of a condominium rose on fewer sales. The median price of a Big Island condo in January was $444,444, up from $399,170 in January 2007... based on 19 units sold, compared to 40 units sold in January 2007." (Pacific Business News, Feb. 5th)

Shut Out From Home Buying? You're Not Alone. "Homes for Working Families study, done by Moody’s Economy.com: Fewer families than ever can afford to buy [homes] –despite the recent slump in housing prices. The affordability index is worst for first-time buyers... because homes in the bottom third of prices had the biggest jump in prices over the past seven years... “Paycheck to Paycheck” study, commissioned by the Center for Housing Policy: Workers in the five fastest-growing job fields are priced out of the majority of housing markets... Housing Illinois: More than a third of Chicago households have to pay more than 30% of their income for housing." (Search Chicago, Feb. 5th)

Bigger Is Not Always Better, Says Texas Homebuilder. Texas: "Brad Kittel builds and sells a line of undersized houses that can serve as anything from a backyard hideaway to an intimate bed-and-breakfast cottage to an artist's loft and workshop. His tiny houses are made from salvaged lumber and building materials, and even though the smallest ones are generally about 200-sf, they come wired for electricity and outfitted for plumbing, including a shower and toilet and a loft for sleeping... Prices range from about $30,000 to near $60,000." (The State, Feb. 5th)

Sacramento Tops List For Home-Price Declines. "Radar Logic's RPX Monthly Housing Market Report: Home prices fell in 20 of 25 U.S. metro areas in November compared to the same period in 2006. Year-over-year price drops ranging from -18.6% in Sacramento, Calif., to -1.4% in Columbus, Ohio, and price gains ranging from 5.6% in Milwaukee to 1.1% in Charlotte. The report is based on a 28-day aggregation of daily index prices that reflect price-per-square-foot data. Radar Logic calculates price-per-square-foot data by capturing real estate transaction from public sources." (Inman News, Feb. 4th)

Home Sales In Valley Fewest Since 1985. "Southland Regional Association of Realtors: San Fernando Valley home sales plunged 35% last year to their lowest level in [20 years]... Despite just 6,271 transactions... many sellers stayed put and refused to slash prices... The median price edged up 1%, to a record high of $611,833 for all of 2007 [but] it declined and finished below $600,000 each month of the year's final quarter... In December, the median price dipped to $557,000, an annual loss of 12.4%, or $76,000. The median price topped out at $655,000 last June and has fallen 15% since then - back to levels last seen in Q4'05." (LA Daily News, Feb. 4th)

Patriots Blow ‘Super’ Boost For O.C. Homes. "A curious link exists between who wins the National Football League’s championship and O.C. home prices... Since ‘73, [teams from] the old American Football League, or what’s now the NFL’s American Conference team” have won the Super Bowl 17 times, and in 15 of those years O.C. home prices went on to rise 15 times. An 88% accuracy rate!" (OC Register, Feb. 3rd)

Permits Numbers A Surprise For Visalia. California: "Visalia City Manager Steve Salomon was surprised to see that the total... value of all building permits issued in January 2008 was $29 million compared with $28.6M in January 2007... The city issued 54 single-family home permits in January, compared with 90 a year ago. (Four were custom homes; the rest were for production builders Ennis, Woodside and Centex. (CTX)) Total dollar value for commercial permits was $15M, compared with $4M in January 2007." (Fresno Bee, Feb. 2nd)

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