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REALTOR®: NAR Reports Median Home Prices Rise in Most Metros

Monday, November 26, 2007

The vast majority of metropolitan areas showed rising or stable home prices in the third quarter with most experiencing modest gains compared with a year earlier, despite a broad decline in existing-home sales, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of REALTORS®.

In the third quarter, 93 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas show increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, including six areas with double-digit annual gains and another 21 metros showing increases of 6 percent or more; 54 had price declines, and three were unchanged. Regionally, prices rose in both the Northeast and Midwest, as did the national condo price.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the data underscores the fact that all real estate is local. “Some metro areas are hot while others are experiencing localized problems,” he said.

Even with most areas showing improvement, a disruption in higher priced sales impacted the national median existing single-family home price, which was $220,800 in the third quarter, down 2.0 percent from the third quarter of 2006 when the median price was $225,300.

NAR President Richard Gaylord said consumers need to understand what’s going on in their own area. “There is no such thing as a national housing market – it doesn’t perform like the equities markets,” he said. “What’s really important for consumers is to make informed decisions based on individual needs, desires and timelines in a given area. Most people plan to stay in a home for 10 years, and for buyers with a long-term view, housing is an excellent investment.”

San Mateo County is a typical example of a local market which is performing well due to a short supply of housing, according to Geoffrey Craighead, president of the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR).

“With two-thirds of land devoted to open space, it is difficult to meet the demand for homes in this area,” said Craighead.

DataQuick Information Systems recently reported despite a decrease in home sales from the previous year, the median price for a San Mateo County home was $775,000 last month, up 2.6 percent from October last year.

Commenting on the performance of San Mateo County and other Bay Area markets like Marin, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties, DataQuick President Marshall Prentice said, “The metro Bay Area markets near the coast and close to the major job centers are weathering this downturn better than the rest of the state. We're finding that higher-priced areas are not seeing the price declines we're seeing in the more affordable areas that absorbed spillover activity during the frenzy two years ago.”

NAR reports the typical seller purchased their home six years ago, with the median price in the third quarter of 2001 at $159,100. Despite the dip in the national median price over the past year, the median increase in value for home sellers who bought six years ago is 38.8 percent.

“Nearly every market is showing positive long-term gains, with a home equity accumulation of $61,700 over the past six years for a typical U.S. homeowner,” Gaylord said.

Median third-quarter metro area single-family home prices ranged from a very affordable $81,600 in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area of Ohio and Pennsylvania, to more than 10 times that amount in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was $852,500. The second most expensive area was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, at $825,400, followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area (Orange County, Calif.), at $700,700.

Metro area median existing-condo prices in the third quarter ranged from $114,000 in the Rochester, N.Y., area, to $663,700 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area. The second most expensive condo market reported was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, at $388,800, followed by the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area at $351,900.

Only two states with data available showed annual gains in existing-home sales from the third quarter of 2006. In North Dakota, the level of third-quarter sales rose 2.9 percent from a year ago, while Vermont increased 0.8 percent.

Regionally, the median existing single-family home price in the Northeast rose 3.2 percent to $286,300 in the third quarter from the same period 2006. Total existing-home sales in the region declined 7.3 percent from the same period a year ago.

In the Midwest, the median existing single-family home price increased 0.5 percent to $170,800. Overall, existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 10.8 percent.

The median existing single-family home price in the South was $180,800, down 3.6 percent. Total existing-home sales in the region were down 14.3 percent.

The median existing single-family home price in the West was $338,100, down 3.8 percent. The existing-home sales pace in the West fell 21.5 percent.

After Salt Lake City and Yakima, the strongest metro price increase in the West was in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area, which increased 9.4 percent from a year ago, followed by the San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont area, up 8.6 percent from the third quarter of 2006.

The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 3,800 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula. SAMCAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in San Mateo County.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.

For further information, please contact Julie Ziemelis, Director of Public Affairs, e-mail , or phone (650) 696-8214.

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