Home Prices Up in 94 Percent of Major U.S. Markets

Homes Prices up for 2019Across the country, home prices remain on an uptrend, escalating in 94 percent of major metropolitan markets, according to the latest National Association of REALTORS® quarterly report, based on findings for the fourth quarter of 2019. In the fourth quarter, the existing-home median price was $274,900, a 6.6 percent gain year-over-year.

Buyers continue to lean on low mortgage rates, the report shows. In the final quarter of the year, household incomes rose to $79,740—an increase of roughly $2,650 year-over-year. At the same time, to afford a mortgage, NAR estimates home buyers needed $48,960, or about $3,940 less, year-over-year, due to lower mortgage payments. In the fourth quarter, the average 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.76 percent.

For first-time home buyers, affordability also expanded last quarter. To afford a mortgage, the average first-time home buyer needed $48,288, or approximately $575 less year-over-year, and their average monthly mortgage payment slid to $1,006, assuming a 10 percent down payment.

Still, housing options remain sparse. At the end of the fourth quarter, 1.4 million existing homes were on the market, an 8.5 percent deficit year-over-year, according to the report.

“We saw prices increase during every quarter of 2019 above wage growth,” explains Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. “It is challenging—especially for those potential buyers—where we have a good economy, low interest rates and a soaring stock market, yet are finding very few homes available for sale.”

In the fourth quarter, appreciation climbed considerably in 18 major markets, including:

  • Trenton, N.J. – 18.2% year-over-year
  • Boise City-Nampa, Idaho – 13.7%
  • Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. – 11.8%
  • Kingston, N.Y. – 11.2%
  • Albuquerque, N.M. – 11.1%

Meanwhile, the coasts continued their high-price streak, with the costliest homes in:

  • San Jose, Calif. – $1.25 million (-0.3% year-over-year)
  • San Francisco, Calif. – $999,000 (3.9%)
  • Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif. – $828,000 (3.6%)
  • Urban Honolulu, Hawaii – $812,600 (0%)
  • San Diego, Calif. – $655,000 (4.6%)
  • Boulder, Colo. – $630,400 (6.4%)
  • Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif. – $617,300 (7.2%)
  • Seattle-Tacoma, Wash. – $528,800 (8%)
  • Nassau County, N.Y. – $496,600 (3.7%)
  • Boston-Cambridge, Mass. – $482,800 (4.9%)

To afford these areas, a family has to make more than $100,000, assuming 5 percent down on a 30-year fixed mortgage, according to the report.

“Rising home values typically create wealth gains for existing homeowners as shown in NAR’s latest study,” says Yun. “However, areas that are deemed ‘too expensive’ will obviously have trouble attracting residents and companies looking to do business there. We need a good balance that benefits both current and future homeowners, but right now, the balance is still in favor of home sellers.”

Rismedia.com February 12, 2020

Sarasota Home Prices Near Pre-Recession Peaks

Sarasota Home PricesAfter wild swings before and after the economic downturn, home prices are inching closer to their pre-recession peaks in the Sarasota-Manatee County region.

Single-family homes and condominiums sold for a median $260,000 in the two-county area during the second quarter of 2019, a 4% increase over the year, according to a new report from real estate researcher ATTOM Data Solutions.

That price is just 3% off the pre-recession median high of $267,500 set in late 2005, just before the housing bubble burst. The Sarasota-Manatee area is one of 31 metro areas among the 108 largest in the U.S. where home prices still fall short of their pre-bust pinnacles.

That’s no surprise, given how deeply local home prices plunged during the downturn. The median price hit bottom at $127,000 in early 2011, a 53% dive from the peak, ATTOM’s report shows.

After the recession, local prices rebounded to double-digit annual gains, but those have slowed in recent years.

“In the general housing market, all indices have been pointing to modest appreciation in accordance with historical norms of 3% to 5%, but not the accelerated rates we have experienced since 2012,” said Robert Goldman, an agent with Michael Saunders & Co. in Venice. “If sellers failed to recognize this shift, then a tug of war of sorts would arise, wherein it would take longer, on average, to sell a home, the spread between final sold price and original list price would widen, and inventory would increase with the potential for stagnant pricing. There appears to be a growing body of evidence for this.”

Asking and selling prices are in a state of flux here, he said. Single-family homes are selling at 89% of original list price and condos at 90%, less than the customary 92% to 93%. Residential sales that used to take 60 to 75 days to close now need 90 days.

“All in all, barring unforeseen events, we should settle into a neutral market, with modest and sustainable appreciation, provided sellers have realistic expectations, in alignment with where the market is, rather than where one wishes it to be,” Goldman said.

Sarasota-Manatee homeowners are holding on to their properties longer, an average of 8.25 years before selling. That compares with two to three years during the frenzied buying-and-selling before the housing crash.

Those homeowners who sold in the second quarter realize an average price gain of $63,198, or 32.1% from their original purchase price. That was 5% higher over the year.

Nationwide, home and condo sales rose nearly 11% over the quarter and 6.4% annually to a median $266,000 — a new price peak. Homeownership also hit a new high at an average 8.09 years.

“As warmer weather brings a rush of house hunters to the market, the latest spike in median home prices marked the largest quarterly increase since the second quarter of 2015 and the third-biggest increase since the market started climbing out of the Great Recession in 2012,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM.

In Sarasota-Manatee, cash buyers are still major players. They accounted for nearly 43% of all home and condo sales during the April-June period, the eighth-highest ratio among the U.S. metros studied. Nationwide, cash sales were down to a 25% share.

Sarasota Herald Tribune July 18, 2019