What's your home worth today? : Rooftop Views

Rooftop Views

What's your home worth today?

The median price of an existing single family home in the U.S. has risen from $158,100 to $223,800 in the past five years, a percentage increase of 42%. This includes a decrease of $3,300 in the national median price in the past 12 months according to House Hunt.com .The Northeast Region is setting the pace in median price appreciation with an increase of 82% since 2002. Next comes the West Region with a 63% gain. The South Region is up 26%. The Midwest Region had the slowest gain at 20%.

Closely mirroring the national median price appreciation are the Raleigh-Cary, NC, and Charleston, SC, metro areas with 41% and 40% respectively. The median price in the Raleigh-Cary area went from $160,100 five years ago to $225,100. The median price for Charleston went from $159,400 to $223,200, according to second quarter data compiled by the National Association of Realtors.

But, like politics, all real estate is local. Median prices are a guideline at best because the median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

The burning question for the vast majority of homeowners, home buyers and home sellers is, “What is my house worth today in my local marketplace?” And, where can I easily and quickly find this and other critical information, such as the Top 20 most expensive and most affordable U.S. housing markets.

One company, HouseHunt.com says they provide a simple solution. When you visit HouseHunt.com, enter the street address and Zip code to find out “What Is My Home Worth?” A list of recent home sales in the neighborhood will appear on the screen. They will be listed by property address, number of bedrooms and baths, price and sold dates.

Next, visitors to the site will be asked to type in their name, e-mail address and phone number to validate the inquiry. Once completed, an estimated value of the home will appear on the screen, taking into account such things as square footage, lot size and age of the home, along with a locater map. A self appraisal tool is also provided to recalculate the value the home. This takes into consideration such things as prime locations, view lots, buyer activity, pools, upgrades and other amenities.