Friday, August 17, 2007

Home Prices

According to Associationi of Realtors (Realtor.org) research, the most expensive home in the US is in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was $865,000.

Well, certainly one should not be surprise - that's where all the good steady JOBS are.

The second
most expensive area was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, at $846,800, followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area (Orange County, Calif.), at $727,000.

Well again, NO SURPRISE there... JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Steady 9 to 5 GOOD PAYING jobs.

Sales Pace Down 11% Nationally

Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.91 million units in the second quarter, down 10.8 percent from a 6.63 million-unit pace in the second quarter of 2006.

Six states showed increases in the sales pace from a year ago; one was unchanged and complete data for two states were not available.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate on a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage was 6.37 percent in the second quarter, up from 6.22 percent in the first quarter; the rate was 6.6 percent in the second quarter of 2006.

Most, Least Affordable Areas in the U.S.

During the second quarter, median single-family home prices ranged from a very affordable $71,700 in Elmira, N.Y., to 12 times that amount in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was $865,000.

The second most expensive area was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, at $846,800, followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area (Orange County, Calif.), at $727,000.

In addition to Elmira, other affordable markets include the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area of Ohio and Pennsylvania, at $76,700, and the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North area of Michigan, with a second-quarter median price of $86,900.

The biggest price gains were found in the Salt Lake City area, where the median price of $233,100 rose 21.9 percent from a year ago. Next was Binghamton, N.Y., at $111,200, up 19.8 percent from the second quarter of 2006, followed by Salem, Ore., where the second quarter median price rose 16.7 percent to $227,900. Most of the metros with price declines were modest, although four areas experienced double-digit drops.

What’s Happening With Condos?

In the condo sector, metro area condominium and cooperative prices – covering changes in 55 metro areas – show the national median existing condo price was $226,800 in the second quarter, up 1 percent from $224,500 in the second quarter of 2006. Thirty-seven metros showed annual increases in the median condo price, including seven areas with double-digit gains; one was unchanged and 17 areas had price declines.

The strongest condo price gains were in the Salt Lake City area, where the second quarter price of $162,200 rose 25.2 percent from a year earlier, followed by Reno-Sparks, Nev., at $220,500, up 17 percent, and the Austin-Round Rock area of Texas, where the median condo price of $172,100 rose 14.9 percent from the second quarter of 2006.

Metro area median existing-condo prices in the second quarter ranged from $116,400 in Greensboro-High Point, N.C., to $608,700 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area. The second most expensive condo market reported was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, at $413,400, followed by the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area at $368,600.

Read the whole research here on Realtor.orghttp://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007081501?OpenDocument:

No comments: