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Kennewick, Washington

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Real Estate Market Trends

Posted at Tri-Cities, Washington (Kennewick, Pasco, Richland) Real Estate Center by Paul Roy

Dec. 22, 2008

Categorized in: Tri-Cities Market Conditions

Housing Price Statistics Show Long-Term Value of Homeownership

The latest federal statistics on housing prices in hundreds of local markets reveal patterns that haven't been making the news: While on a national basis homeowners have lost more than $1 trillion in equity since the end of the boom, the overwhelming majority of markets continue to show net cumulative value growth over the past 60 months.

· According to the third quarter survey released Nov. 25 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, out of 292 metropolitan markets, 273 showed positive net home values over the course of the previous five years.

· Nationally, the survey found prices down 4% over the year, but still up almost 29% over five years.

· Unlike stocks, where your asset values can go from peak to zero in a matter of weeks, house values tend to be far slower moving, and can be more durable over extended periods.

· Forty-three metropolitan markets saw appreciation gains of 2% or higher in the past year, while others -- mainly in California, Florida and Nevada -- experienced double-digit deflation. Twenty-seven metropolitan areas around the country have racked up 50% or higher cumulative gains since 2003.

-- “Long-Term Numbers Tell a Different Story,” by Kenneth R. Harney, Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2008.

Regional Update: Good News from Markets around the Nation

Orlando, Fla.

Members of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association sold nearly 5% more homes in November than they did a year ago, as prices continued to drop to levels not seen since 2004, which has made more homes more affordable.

· The number of pending sales also continued its five-month upward trend, rising to 3,326. That's 84% more homes under contract than in November 2007, when 1,806 sales were under contract but not yet closed.

· Luxury homes have been selling, too. Among the $224.9 million worth of residential property that Orlando Realtors closed on during the month were 17 homes that sold for more than $1 million apiece -- the best month for super-luxury homes since July, when 25 million-dollar-plus properties sold.

-- “Home Sales Up as Prices Plunge,” by Jerry W. Jackson, Orlando Sentinel, Dec. 11, 2008.

South Dakota

South Dakota is among the states with the largest housing market price jumps between the third quarters of 2007 and 2008: North Dakota, at 4%; South Dakota, at 3.9%; and Texas, at 3.2%. “We are fundamentally strong here, and we need to get that news out there.”

-- Dar Burgard, broker/co-owner of an Aberdeen, S.D. agency, “Fundamentally Strong,” Elissa Dickey, Aberdeen News, Dec. 7, 2008.

California

Home sales increased 117.1% in October in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 39.9%, the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.) reported. “Statewide sales increased significantly in October to 552,750 homes on an annualized basis, the highest sales level since late 2005.”

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